RobotechHalo: The Macross Saga
by Captain Henry J. Gloval
Summary: What if the Misfold that sent the SDF1 near Pluto orbit also sent it to an alternate universe while the EarthCovenant war raged on? Tune in and find out.
1. Chapter 1

Robotech/Halo: The Macross Saga.

Preface

This story that I have been writing for the past few months is an AU (Alternate Universe) between Robotech: The Macross Saga and Halo. The first chapter takes in Episode four of the Macross/Robotech series were the crew of the SDF-1 are more or less aware of the mistake they made when they folded but are not aware of the time period they are in. The rest of the Preface contains two timelines. Humanities and a basic Alien timeline to help you understand the background better. Now read on and Enjoy!

The Halo/Robotech Timeline: Humanities History

1999-2159: MISFOLD  
This period marks the beginning of human expansion into it's solar system. After a certain amount of time waiting for the SDF-1 or the Aliens the United Earth Government begins the colonization of Mars and Io. Soon thereafter however, the Unified Earth Government collapses due to economic problems and increased attacks by the Anti-Unification League. All orbital facilities and Grand Cannons are put out of commission by precision strikes by the terrorist. Shortly there after the Grand Cannon projects are abandoned since the economy of the time was in sore straights. Soon the more industrial nations began funding colonial projects aimed at further developing Mars and other planets and moons within the sol. system since the population grew to immense heights on Earth.

2160-2200: EARLY CONFLICTS  
This period in human history was marked by a series of brutal conflicts between various governments and factions in our Solar System. Conflicts of particular historical importance included the Jovian Moons Campaign, The Rain Forest Wars, and a series of clashes on Mars.

As overpopulation and political unrest on Earth increased, a number of new political movements formed. The most noteworthy dissident movements of the period were the "Koslovics" and the "Frieden" movement. The Koslovics-supporters of neo-Communist hardliner Vladimir Koslov-sought a return to the glory days of Communism and the elimination of corporate and capitalist influence, particularly in orbital facilities and offworld colonies. Interestingly both were once part of the Anti-Unification terrorist that destroyed the first United Earth Government.

The Frieden movement was a resurgence of fascism, springing from anti-Koslovic sentiment that had taken root in the Jovian colonies (largely backed by Unified German Republic corporations, frequent targets of Koslovic "workers' crusades"). "Frieden" literally means "peace"-in this case, they believed that peace could be achieved only once the "oppressors on Terra Firma" were eliminated.

2160  
March-June: The Jovian Moons Campaign began. Jovian secessionist attacks on fledgling United Nations Colonial Advisors on the moon Io led to three months of fighting between the Earth military and Jovian "Frieden" forces. Though this was not the first armed conflict in our Solar System, it was easily one of the bloodiest, and is generally considered to be the spark of increased friction and militarization that followed. 

The Jovian Moons Campaign escalated tensions, as Earth's national governments-many of which sponsored colonies within the system-began fighting proxy wars off-planet. As these proxy wars continued, tensions on Earth mounted, leading to a number of armed conflicts on Earth itself.

2162  
The Rain Forest Wars: Armed conflict ripped through South America, as Koslovic, Frieden, and reformed UN forces all clashed over ideological differences, sparking additional conflicts off-planet.

2163  
December: In a conflict that stemmed from the Rain Forest Wars, the three primary Earth factions clashed again, this time on Mars. A series of lightning strikes against Koslovic forces near the Argyre Planitia marked the first extra-terrestrial deployment of Marines. The campaign was an unqualified success. As a result, future military doctrine favored large contingents of Marines for ground assaults and ship-boarding actions.

2164: INTERPLANETARY WAR  
UN-sponsored military forces began a pattern of massive buildups, culminating in the first real interplanetary war. After the successful Marine deployment on Mars, recruitment drives and propaganda tactics strongly bolstered UNSC (United Nations Space Command) forces. UN forces defeated Koslovic and Frieden forces on Earth, then began a systematic and dedicated drive to crush their remnants on the various planets they held throughout the system. At the conclusion of these brushfire conflicts, Frieden and Koslovic forces were defeated in the face of a massive, unified and very powerful UN military.

2170: EXPANSION  
A unified Earth government was reformed in the wake of the conflicts of 2160's. Now, the victors were forced to deal with a less obvious but equally serious threat: overpopulation and a massive military that had no enemy to fight.

In the postwar period there were massive population surges and the overpopulation, coupled with the destruction and famine bred by the Rain Forest Wars, threatened to destabilize the economy.

2291: FASTER THAN LIGHT  
A team of researchers, physicists, and mathematicians working in secret developed the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, a practical means of propelling spacecraft across vast interstellar distances. These scientist used much of Dr. Lang's research on the Hyperspace Fold system to develop this faster than light drive.

This new engine allowed ships to tunnel into "the Slipstream" (also called "Slipspace"). Slipspace is a domain with alternate physical laws, allowing faster-than-light travel without relativistic side-effects. Faster-than-light travel is not instantaneous; "short" jumps routinely take up to two months, and "long" jumps can last six months or more.

The SFTE generated a resonance field, which when coupled with the unusual physics of the Slipstream, allowed for dramatically shorter transit times between stars; however, scientists noted an odd "flexibility" to temporal flow while inside the Slipstream. Though no human scientist is sure why travel time between stars is not constant, many theorize that there are "eddies" or "currents" within the Slipstream-there is generally a five to ten percent variance in travel times between stars. This temporal inconsistency has given military tacticians and strategists fits-hampering many coordinated attacks.

2310: FIRST WAVE  
The Earth government unveiled the first in a line of colony ships-and volunteers were in great supply. Conditions on Earth had deteriorated in the face of overpopulation, so hitching a ride out to a colony became an attractive option.

Each colony ship was assigned military personnel and escort ships to help better utilize the massive (and expensive) standing fleets that, in the collapse of armed dissent, were soaking up a great deal of funding and resources. 

Because FTL travel in this period was still fairly new and expensive, colonists and military personnel faced a stringent regimen of physical and mental testing. In theory, only the best-qualified citizens and soldiers were allowed to colonize "nearby" worlds. This was the birth of the Inner Colonies.

2362: THE ODYSSEY  
The Odyssey launched on January 1, 2362. The lead ship in a fleet of colony vessels, the Odyssey-laden with troops and terraforming gear-spearheaded the colonization of a new world. This sparked the first wave of human expansion beyond the confines of the Solar System.

2390: INNER COLONIES  
By 2390, the colonization of the Inner Colonies was fully underway. There were 210 human-occupied worlds in various stages of terraforming, and the population burden across human-controlled space was largely stabilized.

2490: THE BIRTH OF THE OUTER COLONIES  
Expansion continued at a rapid pace, and by 2490 human space encompassed more than 800 worlds throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way (ranging from fairly well-tamed planetary strongholds to tiny hinterland settlements). Outward expansion continued, and the Inner Colonies become a political and economic stronghold, though they relied heavily on raw materials supplied by the Outer Colonies.

During this period, the planet Reach (orbiting Epsilon Eridani, right on Earth's metaphorical doorstep) became the UNSC's primary Naval yard and training academy. Reach was a major producer of warships and colony vessels, as well as a training ground for covert operatives and Special Forces.

2525: THE COVENANT WAR BEGINS  
On April 20, 2525, contact with the Outer Colony, Harvest, was lost. After failing to re-establish contact with Harvest, the Colonial Military Administration sent a scout ship, the Argo, to investigate. Contact with the Argo was subsequently lost after the ship arrived in the Harvest system.

The CMA dispatched a battle group to Harvest, consisting of three warships. The lead ship in the battle group, the Heracles, returned to Reach, badly damaged and with heavy casualties. The ship's commander reported that an alien warship with powerful weaponry was present, and had decimated Harvest, exterminating the colonists (and presumably destroying the Argo). 

The battle group engaged the alien warship and was thoroughly routed. The Heracles-following the destruction of the other two ships in the group-jumped out of the system, but due to the damage she had sustained, took several weeks to make it back to Reach.

The Earth military immediately upgraded their alert status and began preparations to move in and retake Harvest. By December, a massive Earth war fleet under Vice Admiral Preston Cole mobilized, one of the fastest such mobilizations of such a large fleet in the history of humankind.

2525: THE BATTLE OF HARVEST  
Cole's war fleet engaged the alien warship responsible for the decimation of the colony, scoring a victory (though the battle cost Cole two-thirds of his battle group). Only a last minute tactical inspiration turned the tide of battle.

After returning to Earth, Cole-promoted to Admiral-learned that a number of outlying colonies had been destroyed, leaving behind no survivors. Cole began to move his fleet around in an attempt to intercept the invaders. Ground and ship-to-ship battles began in earnest, raging throughout the Outer Colonies. During one ground engagement, human forces captured one of the aliens. Before he succumbed to his wounds, interrogators learned that the aliens referred to themselves as "the Covenant." 

THE OUTER COLONY MASSACRES  
Over the next several years, Cole's forces were hammered, despite his excellent leadership and tactical brilliance. It was simply a matter of being outgunned; Covenant kill ratios tend to top four to one in ship-to-ship combat. 

By November of 2535, virtually all of the Outer Colony worlds had been destroyed by the Covenant. The "Cole Protocol" was established by military order: All human vessels must ensure that Covenant forces do not find Earth. Human ships-when forced to withdraw-must not travel on an Earth-bound vector, even if that requires jumping into Slipspace without proper navigational calculations.  
If blind jumps are not possible, the ship's captain must order self-destruction if capture is imminent. In addition, it is also imperative that the powerful ship AI data cores not fall into Covenant hands, so part of this protocol involved either the removal or destruction of the ship's AI in extreme situations.

2536-2552: THE SIEGE OF THE INNER COLONIES  
Covenant forces swarmed into the Inner Colonies. For several years the war fell into a pattern: humans emerged victorious from isolated battles-typically during ground operations-but at a horrible cost. In space combat, the humans lost at a precipitous rate, and one by one, the colonies fell.   
2552  
February: SDF-1  
The SDF-1 reappears near Pluto orbit and the story begins….

Robotech/Halo timeline: Extra Terrestrial History  
(Note this time line use Earth's dating system to make the timeline more understandable to you Micronians. Also, It's a rough timeline so it may not answer some of the questions you have. Bare in mind that these answers will come soon enough as the story develops.)

1899-1998:  
The Invid in a desperate move to retake their Homeworld, give life to a large batch of Protoculture on their planet in an attempt to create a bio weapon meant to kill off both Zentradi (either micronized or Macronized) and the Robotech masters. Soon after the complete infestation of and annihilation of the Invid race occurs. A Zentradi and Robotech Master resourceing fleet was assimilated by this 'Flood'. Near the end of this time period the Robotech Masters introduce shielding technology and plasma torpedoes to Zentradi and their own ships to help combat the spreading Flood infestation. 

1999-2039:  
At this time for every Zentradi taskforce that destroys an infested fleet two more Zentradi fleets fall to the Flood never to be heard from again. Finally the Flood infection reached the Robotech Master's Homeworld. At this time all but one of the protoculture factories that can process the Flood like pure protoculture have been destroyed by infected ships. Zor, in desperation, sent the SDF-1 and the only remaining Protoculture factory away into deep space. He hoped that it will remain safe from Flood hands and eventually found when the time was right. Breetai is then sent to find the missing battle fortress which possessed the only viable way to destroy the Flood. By this time Kyron's 7th fleet and Azonia's Meltradi fleet are assimilated by the Flood and Gravemind is formed from both Azonia's and Kyron's former minds. 

Unable to find the SDF-1 or the missing Breetai taskforce, Dolza, leader of all Zentradi fleets initiates a 'Great Journey' to find the missing battle fortress. All of his fleets are either destroyed or heavily damaged while searching the galaxy for the SDF-1 by the ever growing Flood fleet. The Flood command ship under the direct command of Gravemind soon unleashes a new weapon that micronizes Macro-Zentradi. This allowed the flood infection spores to more easily infect Zentradi forces and had the added benefit of making Zentradi crews unable to reach their control consoles.

The micronized Zentradi that happened to survive this new attack fled with some of the wiser Robotech Masters to a few, habitable, out of the way worlds. Many others, either more brave or just stupid, decided to stand and fight the Flood on more established worlds. A few of the smaller refuge settlements survive even to this day.

2040-2044: Now at this time for every Zentradi standard fleet that destroys a Flood fleet, four more Zentradi fleets fall to the Flood. The Robotech Masters finally evacuate their Homeworld, in the face of superior Flood swarms, to their seven ancient research ring habitats. These installations, dubbed Halo, become 'fortress worlds' and attempted to stall the Flood.

2045-2050:  
As all other options are exhausted the Robotech Masters begin preparations to destroy all life in the Galaxy in order to annihilate the Flood once and for all, but before it could be done the Flood invade all Halo ring worlds and absorb all sentient bio mass before the rings could be fired. Fortunately most flood vessels were destroyed in the onslaught above the Ring worlds and those ships that landed on the ring worlds were made inoperable and eventually broken down by the station monitors and used to make more sentinels and repair the damage to the Halos in order to control the Flood on the rings and maintain containment. The Flood, unable to leave their new prisons, went dormant in the ring worlds.

A Brief History of the Covenant.

2050c-2552:  
Around this time the Prophets and the Elites have stopped warring against each other in their little corner of the galaxy. This came about when the Prophets finally shared some Forerunner technology with the Elites. (This was really a Zentradi warship that was lucky enough not be infected with the flood but mysteriously had no crew aboard. The damaged ship's logs spoke of a Great Journey of Salvation. But for what exactly this journey was for exactly they knew not. The only other information that could be deciphered were images of a seven ring worlds and a reference speaking of 'reclaimers')

Both races, spurred on by this new yet incomplete information and the patched together technology present on the ship formed the Covenant with the purpose of finishing this great journey. The Covenant grew in technology and size as more relics of the past and other alien micronian races were absorbed into it.

(Theses relics and technology were gathered from damaged Zentradi vessels and Robotech Master stations that were lucky enough not to be infected or had small infections of the Flood that were easily put down by the Covenant)

Then as the Covenant expanded it was around the 23rd century in Earth time they came upon micronized Zentradi and Robotech Master settlements that the flood consider too small for absorption and ignored entirely. The Prophets looked at the damaged logs on the original Zentradi ship they captured and compared them with the logs for other captured vessels. They realized after careful analysis that these aliens were the 'reclaimers' that the legends of the Great Journey spoke of. Angered by this news that only they (The micronized Zentradi and any like them would be the reclaimers) the Prophets ordered their destruction and the destruction of any race that shared genetic similarities with them. The Prophets thus branded them an affront to the gods. And the covenant war chaste fought them with the utmost vigilance.

It was during this destruction or the Ages of Reclamation as they are know to the Covenant that one enemy settlement proved useful in a sense. This settlement was hold up in a Fulbtzs Berrentzs class home base. The Home Base jumped from sector to sector trying to evade the Flood during their time of war. They continued jumping until they came upon a Covenant fleet fresh from the Taming of the Hunters. The Covenant, realizing the significance of such a base, captured the station, renamed it High Charity and made it their own home base. Now the Covenant are in their ninth age of Reclamation. Their target is Humanity.

**Robotech/Halo: The Macross Saga**

**Episode 1: Further Revelations**:

**Captain Gloval, attempting to use an untested Robotech device, inadvertently causes a disaster. Not only did the fold system transport the huge Battle fortress but also Macross City and its surroundings, through the space-time continuum into deep space orbit of the planet Pluto, and even the wrong time period!**

"Initiate Hyperspace fold immediately!" Captain Gloval yelled. Once the jump had been completed he immediately stared issuing orders while trying to figure out what exactly had just taken place.

"I don't know what happened, but our first priority is to get all the civilians from the shelters onboard the ship as soon as possible," Captain Gloval said into his receiver. He put it down and turned his attention to other matters that might be more serious later on. "Lieutenant Hayes, have you been able to raise anyone at all?"

"No sir, I haven't been able to raise either the _Daedalus_ or the _Prometheus_. It doesn't look good," Lisa said to him.

"Hmmm…. I see. That's bad. I mean those are aircraft carriers; they weren't meant for outer space! How could I have been so stupid?" The scene of cars, concrete, and every other thing outside the bridge view port that was once apart of Macross island was still ingraining itself in his mind. _'What a catastrophe.'_ He thought.

"Stupid chronometer." Claudia said to herself.

"What is it Claudia?" The Captain questioned.

"Well sir, the clock reads the right time of day, but it's reading as February 19, 2552." Claudia replied, confused.

"2552!" The captain said in amazement. _'Could it be possible that we were sent to the future?_' he thought. His receiver rang twice before he picked up. The strain of being a helpless captain on an untested ship with an inexperienced crew had taken its toll on Henry Gloval so far. "Yes I know. Is it possible? Okay... I understand, keep me posted." He put his receiver down and turned to bridge crew. "It seems our situation is far worse than expected." He hesitated as he tried to word this bad news in a way that would not disturb his crew any further. "Dr. Lang, our chief engineer tells me that we seem to be in the future." The crew was dead silent in the light of this new information.

"The future?" Claudia asked after taking in this new information.

"How can that be possible?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know. I just hope earth still exists." Gloval said.

xxxxxxxxxx

The sensor operator aboard the ONI prowler _Circumference_ couldn't believe the data that was coming up on his track. The sensors on the _Circumference_ had just detected a large slipspace entry near Pluto orbit, but the signature was not Covenant or UNSC. "Sir?" The operator said to get his commanders' attention. "Yeah son, what is it?" Commander Repine said to his Operator.

"I have a large Slipspace entry near Pluto orbit sir. The…"

"It can't be the Covenant!" The commander exclaimed. "They don't even know the location of Reach yet!"

"Well sir." The operator interjected. "It matches no known signatures we have on record."

"Really?" The commander said. "Are you sure Ensign? Do you have Excalibur working on it?" the commander asked. 

"Yes sir, the Ship AI is working on it." the operator replied. "Good. Excal…" The Ship AI's hologram silhouette came alive near the operator's console. "You won't believe what are sensors have picked up!" Excalibur said. "What is it?" questioned the Commander quickly.

"It's the SDF-1! It has returned!" exclaimed the AI.

"The SDF-1, my god!" The commander said in a relieved sigh. "Prepare to hail them."

"Hail who?" The sensor operator asked. The commander simply smacked himself on the head before he answered. He had forgotten that when the SDF-1 had folded away with Macross Island the United Earth Government at the time covered up the incident. The official statement for the disappearance of Macross Island, that carried on to this day, was that anti-unification forces had nuked Macross Island, destroying everything there including the SDF-1. The cover up would have failed if it weren't for the sudden withdrawal of the Aliens. 

After some twenty years of waiting for either the SDF-1 and/or the Aliens the United Earth Government began making major changes to the UN Spacy. It was renamed the United Nations Space Command. Veritech fighters were then replaced with less intricate space superiority fighters. Destroids were also regulated to cargo lift duty and the general public never knew of the first space war Earth had fought.

Many in the Top brass, including Admiral Hayes, were shaken by the brief but terrible events that happened on that February day and had pushed for the colonization of other worlds in order to ensure the survival of Humanity. Now, five hundred years later, humanity was slowly being annihilated by the Covenant. It would seem that the Covenant had defeated the Aliens since there had been no further contact with them, but nobody knew for sure.

Commander Repine then replied to the sensor operator. "We are hailing the SDF-1, son. It must have gone into slipspace when those anti-unification terrorist nuked the island. The slipspace rupture must have protected them somehow."

"Yes, that seems to be possible given the circumstances," Excalibur added.

"Well I'm sure that they must have received a lot of damage. We better report it to Fleet command, and investigate further. Let's hail fleet command and the SDF-1 first and then jump to Pluto," the commander concluded.

xxxxxxxxxx

The SDF-1 bridge crew had been busy reading reports from all over the ship as the civilians of Macross Island were brought aboard when Sammy's screen received a transmission from Neptune orbit.

"Captain Gloval!" She cried as she got out of her chair and turned to look at him.

Captain Gloval was startled at her excitement and quickly took his pipe out of his mouth, stuffed in his coat pocket and exclaimed, "I was just holding it; I wasn't going to light it."

Sammy quickly replied upon seeing what the captain just did. "Yes Captain I know all about that, but can you look at the screen for a moment?"

"Don't worry Sammy I have it here," Lisa said. Lieutenant Hayes then began to read out loud the message to the bridge crew, "To Commander of the SDF-1. This is the United Nations Space Command ONI Prowler _Circumference_. We have picked you up on our sensors and are… folding to your location to render whatever aid we can. Also, welcome to the 26th Century! _Circumference_ out."

"Well at least we know we really are in the future," Claudia thought aloud.

"And our people have folding capabilities as well," Lisa said.

"Well, this is the future. They may even have soldiers that have energy shields for all we know," Captain Gloval added. The Captain's receiver began to ring again and he picked it up.

"No Commander Fokker, our first duty is to the civilians that are coming from the shelters. I can't allow you to go out searching for your friends at this time. I'm sorry but they are going to have to wait. Gloval out." He clicked the receiver off before Roy could get a word in edgewise and the captain turned back to his bridge crew.

"I think this is going to be a long day. Let's prepare for the _Circumference's_ arrival," he said and everyone was back to reading reports and given instructions on how to get over the disaster that happened earlier today.

**In the next installment the crew of the SDF-1 learn a little more about the origin of the Macross while some learn to cope with the new situation they are in. Stay tuned for Readjustment; the next episode in the legacy of Robotech/Halo. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Episode Two: Readjustment**

Under the threat of imminent destruction by alien forces, Captain Gloval ordered the SDF-1 to undergo a Fold operation. Not only did the huge battle-fortress end up at the wrong location, but the fold took part of Macross island and some of the surrounding ocean with it into the future. Two weeks have passed since the fold operation and Macross City has been settled somewhat uneasily within the battle-fortress with the help of the _Circumference_ and the UNSC support fleet.

Captain Gloval walked over to Dr. Lang, who was busy overseeing the installation of the new slipspace fold system that the UNSC had graciously provided for the SDF-1. 

"Dr. Lang, you wanted to see me?" Captain Gloval asked.

"Ah, Captain," Dr. Lang said. He then quickly saluted the captain, and the captain saluted back. "I have zome good newz to report. We will be able to fold to Marz to finish our refitting within a few hourz."

"Very good Dr. Lang. By the way, who do I have to thank for this?" the captain questioned.

"Well zir, most of the credit goes to Dr. Halzey." When Dr. Lang mentioned her name Dr. Halsey quickly turned around to face Captain Gloval.

"I thank you very much Dr. Halsey. Maybe after our refit we can return Macross city to Earth," Captain Gloval said.

"Maybe," Dr. Halsey replied. She didn't want to tell him that Earth was overpopulated as it was, but she wasn't going to have to make that decision anyways. She was just there to see if the ship was of Forerunner origin. Cortana's scan disc was in her coat pocket and she would be able to tell if the SDF-1 was one, but there was only one way to truly tell. "Captain Gloval, all UNSC vessels have ship grade AIs installed into the computer systems. The AI allows the ship to function more efficiently in any given situation it may face."

"Oh, I'm assuming that you have one of these AI's on hand to help us out then," Captain Gloval stated.

"Yes I do, as a matter of fact. She may even help in unlocking the secrets of robotechnology." After Dr. Halsey said this she took out a small chip from her coat pocket and walked over to a computer terminal. Dr. Lang and Captain Gloval followed her. She put the chip in the terminal and the holographic projector recently installed by UNSC technicians came alive. The hologram was female in shape. Captain Gloval and Dr. Lang observed that looked a lot like a younger version of Dr. Halsey.

"Wow. You can't imagine the wealth of information, knowledge. So much, so fast! … It's Glorious." The hologram stated. Dr. Lang and Captain Gloval looked at each other in bewilderment. Dr. Halsey was only slightly astonished by her AI's comment.

Dr. Halsey then quickly got the attention of the Hologram, Captain Gloval, and Dr. Lang when she asked, "Cortana, is this ship what I think it is?"

"Yes it is. It's a Forerunner ship." Cortana said. Dr. Halsey then nodded. Captain Gloval, who didn't like to be kept out of a loop, quickly spoke up and asked both Cortana, and Dr. Halsey, "What is this Forerunner you speak of?"

"Yez, what did Cortana mean by zo much information?" Dr. Lang further questioned.

"I'm sure you'll be briefed on this subject once your ship docks at one of Reyes-McLees shipyards at Mars," Dr. Halsey stated. "Suffice to say you might have engaged a distinct group of Forerunners on that February day when you launched into hyperspace."

Captain Gloval merely nodded. He didn't like how Dr. Halsey reacted to his question, but he pushed that aside and turned to more immediate matters. "Dr. Lang, how long will it take until we can fold?" he asked.

"Hard to zay Captain. The UNSC fold zyztem is much smaller than that of the original. It'll take at leazt two hourz, zir, to jury rig it in," Dr. Lang concluded.

"Very good. Keep at it; I want a full report," the captain said as he walked away to a nearby door. He felt a little more at ease now that he was away from the Dr. Halsey. _'There is something wrong here.'_ he thought._ 'Oh well, at least we are safe for now.'_

xxxxxxxxxx

Now that UNSC technicians had arrived to help in the repair work of the SDF-1 much of the crew gotten to take some time off and relax for a change. Of course when Lisa Hayes finally got off her shift she found herself walking the streets of Macross City, thinking of her long dead loved she left behind five hundred years ago. She didn't know where she was going; only that she walked down a flight of stairs and entered a dimly light room. When she looked up, she saw a young man. He looked to be in his late teens, early twenties. He was bent over a tarp covering a mangled mess of metal. She needed to take her mind off of Karl so she asked the young man, "What are you looking at over there?"

"Oh, just my racer that I won eight international championships with. Now it's a pile of junk," the young man said without looking at who had asked him. He was clearly upset by his loss, but just before she was going to ask if she could take a closer look she felt a hand grasp her right shoulder. She looked over and saw that it was Commander Fokker. Before she could say anything to him he whispered into her ear, "I need to talk to that love sick idiot over there privately. Go get yourself something to eat at the White Tiger, you look starved."

Roy was right. It had been twelve hours since she last ate, and a day since she'd last slept. Maybe that would help her get over her loss. She took his advice and went to the White Tiger. She was amazed at how many UN Spacy and UNSC personnel were at the restaurant. She even spotted Vanessa, Kim and Sammy eating at a table. She picked up some Chow Mien and a milk shake and sat down with them, trying to forget Karl like she did while she was in the Robotech Academy.

"I am so glad we can finally take a break," Kim said.

"Hey, do any of you wanna go see a movie? I hear that the theatre is finally open for business," Vanessa added.

"Sure," Sammy replied.

"I guess I can watch a movie. I haven't been in a theatre in quiet sometime," Lisa added hesitantly. After they finished their meals they walked out to the theatre together.

"Yo' I can't believe how loco that blue haired dude is. He beat you badly on that arcade game ese," a Spanish UNSC marine said to his friend as they walked into the restaurant.

"What really bugs me is he wears glasses too," his friend added. Then the blue harried kid they were talking about, and his friend, entered the restaurant behind them. It was clear that the blue head was content with his recent victory. He approached the marine upon spotting him and said, "Hey Bisenti, how about I get you and your friend something to eat? It's the least I can do after beating you."

"Hey Mendoza you think I should take him up on his offer? Mendoza?" Bisenti said trying to get the attention of his squad mate.

"Mira," Mendoza mumbled. Bisenti looked at the direction that Mendoza was staring at and he saw what captivated his squad mate. It was Minmei. Before Bisenti could talk Mendoza out of his trance the man had already scurried over to Minmei and even started a conversation. It was the usual idle, 'I'd like to get to know you better if you what I mean' type conversation. Bisenti wasn't the only one who was surprised. Rick saw it all as he entered the restaurant. Luckily Roy was with him to keep his friend under control. During the tormenting three minutes Roy's words resounded in Rick's mind. 'Girls like her can be fickle at times; you know what I mean? You better be careful that some guy in uniform comes along.' He was determined to be that guy in uniform.

"Roy," Rick said to catch his brother's attention. "I've decided to join the Robotech squad."

"Same here for both of us," the blue haired kid said, gesturing to himself and his friend. "I'm Max Sterling, and this is my friend Ben Dixon. We have nothing else better to do. Our old jobs our long gone," he added.

"Yeah I'm up for it," Ben said. 

"Great, I need some fresh pilots after the battle of Macross Island. You guys can report tomorrow morning at the military section of town. We'll be officially recruiting then," Roy said with enthusiasm.

xxxxxxxxxx

**Next in the odyssey of Robotech/Halo the SDF-1 undergoes refitting while Captain Gloval attempts to get the civilians to safety before the SDF-1 is pressed into service against the Covenant War Machine. Don't miss the Unsettling News, the next intriguing episode in Robotech/Halo. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Episode Three: Unsettling News**

Three weeks have passed since a fold operation sent the SDF-1 and most of Macross City into the future just at the edge of the Kuiper belt near Pluto. Since that time a UNSC slipspace fold system has been jury rigged into the original slot where the first slipspace drive was installed. The system worked perfectly and transported the battle fortress near the Reyes-McLees shipyards in Mars orbit.

Currently, Captain Gloval and his First officer, Lisa Hayes, are speaking with Fleet Admiral Hood about the civilian problem.

"What of the civilians we have aboard the SDF-1? We can't just leave them there if we are going into battle against this Covenant," Captain Gloval objected.

"We know Captain Gloval. We don't like the idea of leaving seventy thousand civilians inside a combat vessel that might change the tide of war into our favor but…. As it is we have no room on any of the United Earth worlds to place them," Admiral Hood stated. "We even have refugee colony ships docked in some of these shipyards being used as makeshift shelters."

"I understand that, but it would be irresponsible of us to have so many civilians stay onboard. Especially if this ship is to engage these alien vessels!" Lieutenant Hayes stated.

"Captain Gloval, you've seen the destruction that was caused by global war over five hundred years ago. That destruction pales in comparison to what the Covenant dishes out on a regular basis," Hood stated. He motioned to one of his entourage to start rolling a video feed into the monitor screen.

"This was the planet Harvest. It was the first colony to be destroyed by the Covenant. Switch to the next picture please," Hood said. Both Gloval and Lisa noted that Harvest looked a lot like Earth but were stunned by the next picture. It showed a large glassy object all around the equatorial region of Harvest. 

"This was Harvest after the Covenant bombarded the planet in a process we call 'glassing over'. Ever world that humans are on the Covenant 'glass over' and this brings me to my point. Every city on every human planet has been glassed over. Do you want Macross City to be glassed over as well?" Admiral Hood asked, looking intently at Captain Gloval.

"No but…" Captain Gloval couldn't argue with what the Admiral had just said. In a way he was right, but in another way he was wrong. "…we can't just enter into combat ignoring the civilians aboard. I can't guarantee their safety."

"Nor can we Captain," Lord Hood quipped. "Listen, we are adding double layering of our strongest alloys to the outer hull where Macross city is being held. I don't like the situation any more than you, so I'll have ONI work on getting presentations done. We'll present this to the inhabitants of Macross City during the military briefing. We'll broadcast it live. They'll have to make up their own minds on if they want to leave."

"Very well then Admiral Hood. I guess it's the best thing considering the circumstances," Gloval said hesitantly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do better Captain Gloval. We'll have the presentations done in a couple of days. That should give sufficient time for the ONI to whip up a few presentations," Lord Hood added.

"Very well then," Captain Gloval said as Lord Hood and his entourage left the room.

"You think he means it?" Lisa asked.

"Very much so Lisa. I still don't like the idea of having an entire city on board this ship, but it'll be up to civilians now. Let's hope they choose correctly," the Captain said to his XO as he took his pipe out for a little puff.

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"Exedor, have you been able to track them yet?" Breetai asked his lore master. 

"The finder beam has had difficulty tracking the battle-fortress my lord. But there is some good news. We have been able to isolate the exact time frame the battle-fortress is in.." Exedor stated.

"Exact Time frame? What do you mean?" Breetai asked anxiously. Dolza has recently been on Breetai's back since the battle-fortress' disappearance. Now that Khryon's fleet has gone missing the situation has become even more disparate.

"The battle-fortress is located somewhere in this galaxy about five hundred micronian years into the future. I can't guaranty that we will be able to continue the pursuit considering the nature of hyperspace," Exedor stated to Breetai.

Breetai thought to himself _'Should I tell Dolza that we failed or should l I attempt to chase down that Battle-Fortress in the future. I must try and retrieve the battle-fortress or all will be lost.'_

"We must have that battle-fortress! We have no choice. What do we need to do exactly in order to jump to this specific time period?" Breetai asked.

"Well we will need to initiate a fold at the exact location the battle-fortress entered hyperspace if we want to catch them. Of course we would need another destination other than this solar system since logically, in five hundred years these micronians would have expanded deeper into space," Exedor said, reminding Breetai of the legend of the micronians.

"We should probably fold near Installation 04. It's the most logical vantage point in this arm of the galaxy," Breetai said.

"Of course Breetai. We'll have to wait a little longer until we can rig our drives for this time jump," Exedor added.

"We must hurry if we are to succeed in saving our race," Breetai said. 

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A couple of days, plus five hundred years, all RDF units were called for a general assembly on the parade grounds within the military block of town to be formally introduced into the UNSC military. The civilian population of Macross city got to see the event when the local news service received clearance from ONI to cover the proceedings.

To start things off Lieutenant Hayes walked up to the podium in front of the view screen that was set up along one of the barrack's wall and began her introduction. "Gentlemen, this briefing is now in session. We have select members of the United Nations Space Command here to talk to us today about a new alien threat and what will happen to the civilian population of Macross city. I'd like to introduce Colonel James Ackerson," Lisa said into the microphone. When she left Colonel Ackerson walked up to the podium and began to speak.

"Thank you Lieutenant Hayes, I'm here to discuss with all of you here and at home, about the alien threat known only as the Covenant. Our first contact with them was over thirty years ago when they destroyed the colony Harvest, and their attacks have been ruthless and final. Cue the recording."

The view screen quickly showed what looked like a small world not to different from Earth. Then as the camera zoomed out of the planet's surface a few small purple objects came into focus. The purple objects then fired off a volley some sort of blue energy toward the surface of the planet. Then what looked like small cities on the planet vanished as they were engulfed by nuclear weapons strikes. Some fifteen worlds came on the view screen all showing the same ruthlessness. Each world came with a name and a death toll. After the viewing, many on the parade ground, and at home were crying. Some were filled with what could only be described as a burning rage, while others were too stunned to react at all. Even those in the UNSC were crying.

Then Colonel Ackerson, after wiping a tear from his eye, spoke up and asked, "Now, I have only one question." A picture popped onto the view screen. It was a picture of Earth from the Moon's perspective with the text, 'Earth; fight for her!' "Will you help Humanity to defend itself and gain justice!" Everywhere on the ship, no matter if it were a corridor, house, skyscraper, or cargo hold, a resounding **yes**! could be heard. "Then stay within the battle fortress, keep it safe from the covenant and help the SDF-1 and Earth win this war. Help us out any way you can. Whether it be becoming part of the armed services or just providing morale support, stay within the SDF-1 and this will never happen to you!", a picture of Harvest after it was glassed over appeared on the monitor when Colonel Ackerson finished his speech.

Captain Gloval and many others, including Kyle Lynn, were disgusted with what ONI had just pulled. _'Now we have a real problem.' _Captain Gloval thought.

**Next the SDF-1 is christened the _Macross_ and is sent on its first assignment with civilian volunteers aboard. The RDF is briefed on the Covenant war machine while Captain Gloval attempts to ambush the enemy in the planetary rings of Coral. Don't miss Blitzkrieg; the next exciting adventure in Robotech/Halo!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Episode Four: Blitzkrieg:**

It has been a month since a Fold operation took the SDF-1 and Macross city into the future. After being refitted and resupplied for combat duty, the SDF-1 was christened the _Macross_. The _Macross_ has been sent on a patrol assignment near the Coral System.

Rick Hunter, Max Sterling, and Ben Dixon, Robotech Defense Forces newest recruits, had been working hard to survive the rigorous training necessary to become the elite in the defense forces; the Veritech fighter pilots. Training to toughen them up on the ground and in space. With their basic training complete, the new pilots were looking forward to their first leave.

"I'm so glad we were able to finally get some leave," Ben Dixon said exuberantly. He was walking with his friend Max and Rick. Well, he was really walking with Max ahead of Rick who, was busy holding a paper bag full of groceries and trying to hold a conversation with Minmei.

"Yeah, I can't wait till I get to the arcade. I need to brush up on my skills," Max enthusiastically said while gesturing like he had a joy stick in his hands at the moment.

"You! Brush up? You're Max Sterling! You tore through those flight simulations like they were a Pac Man machine," Ben stated. Both laughed at the notion of Max needing brushing up.

"Hmmm…. I wonder if…. Ah there he is! Hey Besenti! Over here!" Max yelled excitedly. Besenti looked over to where he heard the shouting and saw that it was Max and his friend. He signaled to his squad mates with a hand gesture and walked over to Max and Ben, who stopped at a street corner. Rick was already in the nearby women's clothing shop with Minmei.

"Hey not bad uniforms for Flyboys," Besenti stated with a little jest in his tone.

"Yeah, I like those blue berets you're sporting," Ben quipped. Since UNSC personnel were assigned permanently aboard the _Macross_, Captain Gloval had thought it appropriate that the newcomers should wear the proper 'attire'. UNSC personnel were issued new uniforms according to their function and became an official part of the Robotech Defense Force. The marines were stuck with the blue jumpsuits of the military police.

"I really don't mind this uniform. It's simple and elegant at the same time," Jenkins stated to the group as he looked at himself through a nearby window.

"Mira, look at those girls over there," Mendoza said, pointing out the three lady that entered the women's clothing shop.

"I thought you were interested in that girl you were raving about. Uh what's her name…Minmei was it?" Jenkins asked.

"Yeah I was, but then I found out she was sixteen, or something like that. I'm sorry but she's a little young for me," Mendoza confessed as he scratched his head.

"Hey, weren't those ladies part of the bridge crew?" Ben inquired of the group.

"Yeah, I think one of them was Commander Hayes. Wait, Rick is in there!" Max exclaimed at the sudden thought. The group turned its attention at the Clothing shop and saw Commander Hayes leading Kim and Sammy out of the shop a few seconds later. The girls looked slightly disgusted.

"Well that can't be good," Jenkins observed as the three female bridge officers walked by.

"Hey! You think they're headed for the White Tiger?" Mendoza asked his squad mates eagerly.

"Ha! I would if I saw a pervert in uniform," Max playfully stated to the group. Everyone started laughing hysterically at the comment. They even laughed harder when Rick finally emerged out of the shop with Minmei.

"Ha ha ha. Oh man that was good one Max. I better find Sarge. He's probably back at the Sam Goodie still listening to that flip music. Go ahead Mendoza, take Jenkins with you and go talk with those girls," Besenti said, motioning his friends to enjoy themselves. 

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Captain Gloval walked out of an entry hatch into the room where the UNSC slipspace fold system had been installed. As soon as he entered he saw what Cortana was trying to explain. In the empty void above the UNSC slipspace fold system was what could only be described as a shimmering effect that lit up the entire section.

"Ah, so this was what Cortana was talking about Dr. Lang?" Captain Gloval asked upon the sight of the phenomenon.

"Yes captain. I've never seen any reaction like," Dr. Lang observed.

"Since this is where the original fold generators were in, might there be a possible relation?" Captain Gloval questioned his chief engineer.

"Yes captain, that is a possibility. Perhaps when the original fold system disappeared the space/time fabric was distorted. This could be the result," Dr Lang explained to Captain Gloval. Dr. Lang also added, "Cortana and I have a theory, unproven so far, that it may be possible to use this reaction as some sort of protective barrier."

"Really? Get to work on it right away. With the civilians still aboard I want every possible way to protect this ship. Now I have to go. I have a meeting with the Spartans assigned to us."

"Of course sir. We'll get to work on it right away," Dr. Lang stated while saluting the captain.

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At the edge of the Coral system a Covenant battle group exited slipspace with orders to purge the system of human life. The battle group was presided over by the Ship Master Nola 'Thanosee.

"We have entered the system my lord," an elite reported to the Ship Master.

"Good! Have scout ships begin a sweep of this entire system. We shall find and destroy any human infestation," the Ship Master stated with disdain and hate in his speech.

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The Master Chief felt a little uneasy in his new uniform. It was a green suit with a black trim. He'd prefer to wear his MJOLNIR mk. 5 suit, but he was going to meet members of the command crew and pilots and it would be a little intimidating for him to wear his armor in public. He arrived first outside the gate to the military block of town and waited there for a little while.

_'I wonder were Linda is?'_ The Master Chief thought to himself. Finally after five minutes Lisa, Kim, Sammy, and Vanessa arrived.

"Ah, Master Chief I presume," Lisa said as she approached the Master Chief. He quickly saluted Lisa, and Lisa and her group saluted back. 

"So how do you like it in the RDF?" Sammy asked.

"Quaint Ma'am," The Master Chief stated straight forwardly.

Kim chimed in and said to the Master Chief, "You're a man of few words huh?"

"Yes," the Master Chief replied plainly.

"…You even get your own room men, but that doesn't mean you can fool around. Oh and one other thing; Attention!" Roy told his pilots as he saluted Lisa Hayes.

Rick merely blushed at the sight of the three girls that spotted him in the launderer shop earlier. Max and Ben chuckled to themselves while feigning a salute. The situation was too funny to resist laughing.

Sammy then recognized Rick and blurted out, "Ah, its mister Launderer!"

"Mister Launderer?" Vanessa asked herself aloud. Then Kim whispered into Vanessa's ear about Rick and the Launderer shop incident. "Oh my goodness!" Vanessa cried out when Kim was done explaining.

"Well, are these the brilliant young pilots you've been raving about? Well introduce them," Lisa requested from Roy.

"Of course. This is Pilot Rick Hunter," Roy said while pointing to his little brother.

"Ma'am!" Rick shouted while snapping to attention.

"Hello Rick…wait why is that name so familiar?" Lisa pondered out loud. "Wait I remember now! You're that loud mouth pilot!" She said pointedly at Rick.

'Well, so much for introductions.' The Master Chief thought to himself. Before Rick and Lisa could continue their little spat a Warthog came to a screeching halt near the group. Captain Gloval climbed out the passenger seat of the Hog and greeted everyone there.

"I'm sorry gentlemen to interrupt, but Lisa I want you and the rest of the bridge crew to report for immediate duty. We have a situation developing," Captain Gloval ordered his first officer and bridge crew.

"Is it anything we need to be concerned about?" Commander Fokker inquired.

"No, nothing to be worried about yet. Go about your regular business Gentleman," Captain Gloval replied reassuringly to Commander Fokker. Gloval then climbed back into the Hog with Lisa, Kim and Sammy and the Hog rode away.

"Well, let's get to the business at hand. Master Chief, are you ready to fly a Veritech around for a little spin?" Roy Fokker asked the Master Chief.

"Why not?" The Master Chief asked rhetorically. Roy Fokker, Master Chief, Rick, Max, and Ben entered the military block. Roy had heard of the Spartans and the impressive record they'd racked up in the war. He wanted to see if they had what it took to be a Veritech fighter pilot. Besides, it would give these new pilots some real practice.

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"Report Cortana," Gloval ordered his new ship AI as he and most of the bridge crew took their positions.

"Well sir, a space monitor report came in a little while ago. It showed a large gravimetric distortion just outside of this system. Also, no other UNSC ships are scheduled to enter this system for some time so it has to be Covenant," Cortana observed from the data she compiled. 

"Sir, she may be right. Long range sensors detect several tracks approaching at a high rate of speed toward Coral," Vanessa added.

"Hmmm… So they've come," Captain Gloval said as he sat down. "Cortana, are there any settlements on Coral that we need to Evac?" He requested of Cortana.

"Coral only has an archeological team on the surface right now," Cortana replied.

"Time until the enemy reaches firing range of the Main Gun from our current position Lisa?" Captain Gloval questioned his first officer.

"I estimate at least a day until they make it here. Coral's solar system is quiet large," Lisa told Gloval.

"Actually, I say it'll take them 1.567 days to reach our destination," Cortana stated with precision.

"Even better. Lisa, activate the ECM, and Claudia bring us into the rings of Coral. We're setting a trap for our alien friends," Captain Gloval ordered his crew.

"ECM activated and the ship is already on a course for the rings. Do you want me to order a pelican down with a flight of fighters to evac the archeologist?" Cortana asked the Captain. Both Lisa and Claudia looked at each other, surprised by Cortana's speed. Then Lisa shot an angry look at Cortana that didn't go unnoticed.

"Cortana, are you a Ship AI or a mind reader?" Gloval asked sarcastically. He spoke up again before Cortana could reply. "Dispatch two Pelicans to retrieve the archeologists."

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"So how did you sleep?" Roy asked Rick who had just emerged from his new room.

"I'm ok Roy," Rick told his older brother as they jogged to a waiting Warthog.

"Hope you slept better than I did," Max said sleepily as Roy and Rick climbed into the back of the Warthog.

"What exactly were you doing that kept you awake all that time?" Roy asked his most promising pilot.

"The Master Chief and I were playing Ace Combat Six on my PS3. They spent their money well when they trained you Spartans. Isn't that right Chief?" He said as the Warthog sped through the city streets.

"Yes Max. Maybe after this little bout we could finish that match," the Chief said from the passenger side seat in the Hog.

"Maybe after I get some… sleep," Max tried to say after nearly dozing off.

"Okay Max, you can't fight these aliens in that condition. Just find a cot on the _Prometheus_ and rest up." Roy said to Max sympathetically. He was impressed by the Master Chief's endurance though. He had played all night with Max and didn't look even mildly fatigued. "Hey, Master Chief, you want to fly for Max instead?" Roy asked the enigmatic Spartan.

"I have fifty flight hours under my belt. Why not?" The Chief replied.

"Good, his Veritech is blue with a white trim. Your call sign is Skull 24." Roy told the Master Chief who looked back smiling. _'Never saw the Chief smile before,'_ Fokker thought to himself.

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All six Veritech squadrons and one Longsword squadron entered the shadow zone of Coral's rings. The darkness of the rings, combined with the ECM emissions from the _Macross_ gave perfect cover for an ambush. Now all the pilots had to do was wait for the Covenant picket to enter the outer rings near the shadow zone. They didn't have long to wait.

The obscure backdrop of the shadow zone lit up violently as a few random explosions lit up the region. The Covenant was bombing the rings to root out any human ships in the area.

"Methodical buggers," A Longsword pilot observed to himself over the radio.

"Ok, let's get' em!" Roy yelled with enthusiasm into the comm. channel. All squadrons exited the shadow zone into the light of the nearby star at a high rate of speed. While they accelerated out of the shroud of darkness, the Veritechs fired off a swarm of micro-missiles that slammed into and destroyed most of the Covenant Seraph fighters that had entered the ring.

"It's about time we finally have a win in space. Let's mop up these stragglers and focus on that Covenant Frigate group that the Seraphs came from!" A Longsword pilot yelled into the comm. channel.

"Captain Gloval to all Veritechs! We have another group of fighters approaching from the other side of the Planet! We don't know how they found us but redirect your attack and intercept them immediately!" The captain ordered. Three new battle groups had popped up from the other side of the planet. Two were made up of Capital ships while the other was made up of pure fighter craft. It was going to be a grueling battle for sure. The Longswords were the first to engage the new wave of Seraphs.

"Damn it! There are too many of them!" Another Longsword pilot shouted into the comms. Now instead of shouts of jubilation filling the RDF comms there were shouts of distress and screams of death. 

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"Redirect and target the new group of enemy capital ships!" Captain Gloval ordered as the_ Macross_ rocked from another pulse laser strike to the hull.

"Target set! Ready to go LOUD!" Cortana called back as the _Macross_ spun around quickly on it's axis in order to get its main gun into position.

"Good! Fire the main gun!" Gloval ordered.

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"What are they doing!" The ship Master questioned his subordinate.

The major elite answered back hastily, "They are charging some type of weapon! its power readings are off the scale my lord!" Then, on the holographic monitor screen in front of him, the ship master witnessed the Macross firing its main gun and incinerating part of his ambush fleet.

"Have a frigate and a fighter group keep the enemy busy as the rest of our fleet retreats!" The Ship Master barked out. He needed to reassess the situation before he could proceed any further.

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"I need some help Here!" Roy yelled into the comm. channel while trying to outmaneuver the Seraph that was right on his tail. Then suddenly the Seraph was struck with a hail of gun pod fire. "Rick was that you?" Roy asked in a more relaxed tone.

"Yeah big brother. You noticed that most of those fighters ran away?" Rick asked his older brother.

"Yeah, but we are not done yet Rick. Let's mop up the rest of these fighters. Master Chief can you handle that frigate?" Roy asked over the comms.

"I don't need to," the Master Chief said calmly. Roy noticed what the Master Chief was talking about. The _Macross_ had reeled around and was preparing to fire off its main gun again. The frigate tried to get out of the main gun's firing arc, but when the _Macross_ fired off its main gun and scorched the frigate's side armor its reactor still went critical.

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**Next in Robotech/Halo, The Covenant commander discusses plans to capture the Macross upon revelation that the ship is somehow involved in the great journey. Captain Gloval tries to evade the Covenant in a nearby nebula, and nearly causes a disaster. Don't miss Gauntlet. The next exciting adventure in Robotech /Halo.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Episode 5: Gauntlet**

**After a misfold the SDF-1 was sent to the future near Pluto orbit. While in this new time period the SDF-1 was refitted and sent to fight vicious aliens bent on mankind's destruction. In it's first encounter with it's new alien foe the SDF-1 christened the Macross was able to successfully defend itself by firing the main gun. Now the next move is left up to the crew of the Macross.  
**  
"Enemy ship destroyed Captain Gloval. The rest have bugged out." Cortana observed with glee at current good news.

"Yes that is true but it seemed a little too easy." Captain Gloval replied with an air of suspicion in his voice. "They'll most likely hang back and try to attack us from outside our main gun firing arc. Prepare to execute Cole Protocol article 1." he further added.

"Is that really necessary Captain? We did defeat the enemy." Claudia stated plainly to Captain Gloval.

"We didn't defeat them Claudia. They retreated." Captain Gloval pointed out to his inexperienced helm officer. "Cortana prepare to initiate a short jump for the Adair Nebula. We'll evade them there and try to make our way to Reach." Gloval further added as he looked at the star Charts Vanessa had pulled up on the computer plot.

"Of course sir. It'll give me more time to look over the notes the lead archeologist from Coral gave me." Cortana replied.

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On board the Covenant command ship Nola 'Thanosee discusses the appearance of the SDF-1 and the loss of several ships to the Prophet Hierarchy.

"My Prophets." Nola stated as he prostrated himself before the holographic images of the Prophets Regret, Truth and Mercy.

"Speak Elite!" Truth commanded hastily

"My Prophets, My task force has encountered a human ship that annihilated half of my ships." The Elite stated somberly. The thought of a single human ship destroying so many ships at such long range disturbed the Elite.

"You said a ship. What does it look like?" the aged Prophet of Mercy asked of the Elite.

"Here are the records we have on it." The Elite said as he motioned to his subordinates to activate the video feed on the Macross. It showed the SDF-1 firing off it's main gun and wiping out part of Nola's fleet.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mercy asked Truth.

"Yes it is. It's the Super Dimension Fortress that our most ancient records links to the Great Journey. Yet it has changed so." Truth told his fellow Prophets after looking intently at the image.

"Arrogant knaves these humans are. They dare to use Holy Relics against us. We must capture that ship for our own." Regret said to the other two prophets.

"This is true my brother. Nola 'Thanosee You are now the supreme commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. You are to find and capture that ship. This may be the key to completing the Great Journey." Truth said to the Golden Elite.

"Thank you my Prophet and my Lord. We have the general position of this 'Fortress'. We will vector in our fleet to intercept them in the nebula." The Elite stated to the Hierarchs.

"Do what must be done. Do not hesitate; show no mercy and you'll be the instrument that leads us to the end of this Journey." Mercy stated to the Elite. Then the transmission killed over and the Golden Elite, the former ship master, now the Supreme commander of a vast armada, rose up triumphantly.

"Have my new fleet form up near the Nebula as it arrives in the system!" Nola yelled to his subordinate as he walked out of the control room.

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"So how did you do?" Max asked his friends that had just landed back on the Prometheus.

"Not bad. I got five kills." Master Chief said as he took off his helmet.

"Four kills for me." Rick stated to Max uneasily. Rick still had doubts about killing another living being. Sure the covenant wouldn't think twice of killing but that didn't make it any easier for him.

"One for me Max. I'm sorry." Ben stated disappointedly. Ben just couldn't get the hang of flying but was glad that he did contribute something to the war effort.

"That's alright Ben. You'll do better next time." Max told his friend sympathetically. "Let's celebrate shall we. I know a place that makes great chow mien." Max added enthusiastically.

"I think that there is one place here on this ship that makes chow mien Max but after we eat we should probably try to find Linda and Fhajad. They've been missing for sometime now." The Master Chief stated to his new friends. Linda and Fhajad were the only other Spartans that were assigned to the Macross. Fhajad received the new MJOLNIR mk. IV armor and wanted to give it a little test run by exploring the ship with Linda. They should have been back by now since the Macross wasn't that big of a ship.

"Their most likely at the base now. After we get something to eat we'll find them." Rick said consolingly to the Master Chief. Yet Rick could help but to remember the long twelve days he spent with Minmei all alone.

"Yeah, your probably right Rick. Let's get something to eat." the Master Chief supposed. The Master Chief was slightly relieved by the support he was receiving from the crew of the Macross. He sensed changes being made in him as he associated more Rick and the others on the Macross. They didn't look upon him as a freak, or aberration as some of the UNSC personnel did. It was refreshing for him, and the Master Chief was determined to keep it that way.

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"We are now entering the Adair nebula." Claudia stated out loud.

"Very good. Put Dr. Lang on the monitor screen" Gloval stated to his crew as he took his seat. The monitor screen in front of Gloval came alive with Dr. Lang on the screen. "Ah, Dr. Lang, do you have any news on that barrier system you were developing?" Gloval asked his Chief Engineer.

"Yez captain we've dizcovered away to move ze barrier zyztem." Dr. Lang told Gloval through the monitor screen.

"Ah you have!" Gloval said perked up by this piece of good news.

"However there iz a problem. We can't cover ze entire ship at any one time." Lang added.

"Oh, I see… I guess she's too big." Gloval supposed.

"Captain the bezt we were able to come up with iz thiz. Our zyztem can still be uzed az an effective countermeazure in caze of enemy attack. Ze three photon barriers can be moved to defect any incoming lazers like zo." Lang stated while a diagram depicting what he was saying popped up on the screen.

"Hmmm… I see." The captain said to himself as he saw the computer mock up of the system in action.

"Deflection point control can be handled by either univerzal gyroz from the bridge or Ship AI. We refer to it az the Pinpoint Barrier." Lang said concluding his presentation.

"Yes you've done well." Captain Gloval supposed.

"That's pathetic!" Claudia exclaimed to herself after overhearing the conversation between Captain Gloval and Dr. Lang.

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"Hi Rick! How was your mission?" Minmei asked gleefully as Rick and his new friends sat down at their usual table.

"As well as can be expected I guess. Is there anything new with you?" Rick inquired of Minmei. Rick didn't want to think any further of the recent battle he was in.

"Well the Mayor announced today while you were gone that he plans to restart the Miss Macross competition. He hasn't announced when they are going to begin but I'm very excited." Minmei said enthusiastically.

"I'm liking this place more and more." the Master Chief said to himself. Then he noticed a group of UNSC marines that sat next to him. Chief was still worried about Linda and Samuel so he asked, "Sergeant, do you have any news on Spartan 058, and 084?"

"Nothing yet Chief. We have three teams roving through the ships corridors in Warthogs trying to find them." the Sarge replied.

The Master Chief then turned his attention to Minmei and asked, "Do you mind if we take this to go?"

"No not at all, but you have to order something first." Minmei pointed out to the Master Chief.

"Fair enough." The Master Chief replied.

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After ordering their take-out and going to the motor pool in the military block of town the Master Chief, Rick, Max, and Ben speed through an unexplored region of the SDF-1 in an attempt to find Chief's two missing Spartans. They do not know what awaits them.

"Hey, I'm picking something up on the motion tracker dead ahead." Max observed as the warthog sped through the dimly lit corridor.

The Master Chief slowed the warthog to a slow crawl now and asked Max, "Can you grab that spot light and shine it toward the front of the hog?" Max without saying anything grabbed the spot light next to him and started to slowly scan the front of the Warthog.

"You got anything?" Ben asked from the back seat of the Warthog. His voice was slightly muffled because He and Rick were eating their take-out once this little ride began.

"No nothing…." Max was cut short when he his light revealed the form of a woman walking slowly toward the warthog. She was at least 6' 5" in height Max surmised.

"Turn that light off Max. Rick go get me that blanket in the back." Chief asked of his friends as he turned off the head lights on the Warthog. Everyone noticed that the woman was naked and seemed to be in a state of shock. Rick quickly grabbed the blanket and handed it to the Master Chief who had already climbed out of the Hog. Max followed suit and followed the Master Chief as they approached the woman.

Once the Master Chief got to her he wrapped the blanket around her and lead the stunned woman toward the Warthog. Now that she was semi-clothed Max turned his flashlight back on to give the area some light. Chief recognized her as Linda but she changed a lot. Her skin was a pale complexion, her once short blonde hair had now turned to a light blue, and her blue eyes had also changed to an unsettling red.

"Linda. Linda!" the Master Chief shouted at Spartan 058 in an attempt to gain her attention. The attempt failed; she was clearly in a state of extreme shock. They placed her carefully in one of the backseats in the Hog with Rick and Ben to keep her safe.

"Sir, I have a transmission from the our recon group ahead of us." Lisa said to Captain Gloval.

"Thank you Lisa; put it through." Gloval responded.

"This is Sepia 3 recon to Macross. We have a little problem." the pilot stated over the comms.

"What is it Sepia 3!" Gloval inquired in an alarmed manner.

"Sir, I have two large ships that look to be Covenant directly in our path." Sepia 3 replied.

"Confirmed, the ships are CCS class battle cruisers." Cortana stated out loud to the whole bridge crew. "I recommend immediate evasion." She further added.

"No, if they have two battle cruisers searching for us in the nebula then they must have a large support fleet nearby. No, we'll have to go through the two enemy ships in order to escape. Claudia, go all ahead flank toward the ships. Lisa, have the ship go to general quarters. And Cortana, work on a random slipspace jump and activate the Pinpoint barrier system. We may need to get out of here in a hurry." Gloval ordered in haste. "Sepia 3 return to Prometheus immediately!" he further added.

"Hey I got another track!" Ben yelled as he looked into the motion tracker on the Hog.

"Fhajadl! Spartan 084! Respond!" The Master Chief cried out toward the dark and damp corridor.

"Wait, it's gone. Man, he moved fast." Ben further observed.

"Max, go get the two M6D's from the glove compartment on the Hog. We may need them." Chief said somberly toward his new friend.

"Right Chief, I'll get the guns." Max stated as walked over to the warthog. All of the sudden an ominous growling noise could be heard in the distance.Max and the Master Chief stopped in their tracks. "What was that noise?" Max asked.

"I don't…." The Master Chief before he could finish his sentence was speared to the ground by a man wearing a skin tight body glove.

"Chief!" Rick cried out as he and Ben jumped out of the Hog leaving Linda in the backseat. Fhajad and the Master Chief were rolling on the ground wrestling each other in brutal hand to hand combat trading haymakers and upper cuts. Max jumped into the fray but was quickly thrown to a nearby bulkhead by Fhajad.

"MAX! Nooo!" Ben yelled as he attempt to jump into the fray. He was successful in getting Fhajad off of the Master Chief but was hastily knocked to the side by the enraged Spartan. Fhajad turned his attention to the Master Chief when a shot rang out. Rick had grabbed one of the M6D's from the glove compartment. Fhajad fell to the ground with a round in his chest. Rick realizing what he just did dropped the gun to the floor and walked shakily toward Max and Ben.

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"Both enemy ships are within firing range!" Vanessa yelled out to the bridge.

"Good, Cortana prepare to fire the Main Gun." Gloval stated to Cortana.

"Now firing Main Gun." Cortana stated. The bow section of the Macross separated as usual but the their was no orange glow emanating from the bow. "What! I don't' understand…." Cortana tried to say but was cut off by Dr. Lang who suddenly came on the intercom and said, "The Main Gun will not fire! In all probability the Pinpoint barrier iz interfering with ze energy tranzformerz. I'm running an analyze now."

"Bohze Moi!" Gloval said to himself in disbelief. "Lock the Rail guns onto their targets! Continue advancing in between them. We'll use our standard ordinance instead." The captain added.

"Enemy plasma torpedoes approaching! Pinpoint barrier system ready?" Claudia called out.

"It's ready." Cortana replied worriedly. _'I need to concentrate on this one.' _Cortana thought to herself. As the volley of blue super heated matter sped toward the Macross the Pinpoint barriers positioned themselves quickly throughout the ship's hull to intercept the first few torpedoes. As soon as the torpedoes struck harmlessly against the Pinpoint barriers the Macross' Rail Guns quickly acquired their targets and let out their deadly 1780mm payload toward the CSS battle cruisers. The initial shots brought the shields on both ships down to the 50 range. The Covenant replied in kind by firing a volley of pulse laser shots that flew twice as fast as the plasma torpedoes.

"I can't move them fast enough! BRACE FOR IMPACTS!" Cortana screamed out as she tried desperately to intercept the new enemy attack. Luckily most of the shots that were aimed at vital locations were intercepted by the barrier system but a few did make contact with the hull with deadly consequences.

"Sir, we are approaching point blank range! I can't intercept every shot they fire!" Cortana exclaimed.

"Now! Fire all weapons!" Gloval demanded as he jumped quickly out of his seat. Now as the Macross came along side each CSS cruiser the rail guns fired again finally downing the shields on both ships. Then the missile bays extending from their protective holds and fired swarm after swarm of reflex missiles toward the defenseless Covenant ships. Just as the missile systems expended their available ammunition the plasma cannons located throughout the Macross fired on the crusiers, slicing through the hulls of the already crippled ships. As the Macross finally passed by the two mangled hulks of the CCS cruisers the reactor units on both Covenant ships failed and both ships exploded in bright blue spheres of nuclear energy.

"We did it!" Kim and Sammy exclaimed jubilantly.

"Ah… sir I have a large group of objects in front of us. It doesn't look good." Vanessa stated hesitantly as she pointed at the large computer plot in front of her.

"It's a Covenant Fleet!" Cortana cried out. 

"Initiate Slipspace Fold immediately!" Gloval bellowed out.

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"My lord! The battle fortress is entering Slipspace!" the Major Elite yelled out.

"All ships pursuit course! We must have that battle fortress!" Nola yelled into his fleet wide communication link up.

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"I'm sorry sir for that rough jump but we did have a small energy drain." Cortana apologized to Gloval.

"That's alright. We're safe now." Gloval said reassuringly as he took out his pipe from his coat pocket for a brief puff.

"Captain Gloval! How many times have I told you that there is no smoking in the bridge." Sammy told Captain Gloval out right.

"Yes in the 21st century that was true but we are under new regulations now." Gloval replied as he lit his pipe and took a puff.

"Yes Sammy, smoking on the bridge is now allowed in the 26th century." Cortana pointed out.

"Oh I'm sorry Captain." Sammy apologized as she took her seat again.

"That's alright Sammy. Cortana what is that ring like structure out in the distance?" Gloval inquired of Cortana as he took another puff from his pipe.

"I don't know sir. There is no such structure cataloged any where in UNSC files." Cortana replied.

"Let's check it out." Gloval supposed.

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**Next on Robotech/Halo. Part of Breetai's taskforce arrives at Installation 04 as the Covenant fleet closes in on the Macross. During the battle between the Zentradi and the Covenant the Macross splashes down on the Ring world and drops off the Daedalus and Prometheus with the best humanity has to offer. Don't miss Halo in the next exciting episode in Robotech/Halo**


	6. Chapter 6

**Episode 6: Halo **

**After a misfold took the SDF-1 _Macross_ into the future, the United Nations Space Command decided to employ the SDF-1 in their war against an alien menace know only as the Covenant. After defending itself above the rings of Coral and in the Adair nebula, the _Macross_ folded into the Threshold system and is investigating a strange ring-like structure between the Planet Threshold and its moon Basis.**

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"Cortana, all I need to know for now is did we lose them?" Gloval asked his inquisitive ship AI.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Cortana replied somberly.

"We made a blind jump didn't we... How did they -"

"Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Adair, at light speed my maneuvering options were limited." Cortana closed her eyes as more sensor data became available to her.

"We were running dark Cortana, right?" Lisa inquired as she turned her attention to the holo tank that Cortana's hologram appeared in.

"Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in slipspace." Cortana paused for a moment as she gathered more information from the sensor logs. "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet." Cortana added as Gloval looked into the monitor screen displaying the _Macross _and the Covenant fleet's position.

"So, where do we stand?" Gloval asked as he took another puff from his smoking pipe.

"Our veritechs are mopping up the last of their Recon picket now sir, but we've picked up approach vectors from multiple CCS-class battlegroups. There are three capital ships per group, and in about ninety seconds they'll be all over us sir." Lisa added gravely as she looked at the sensor readout on her console.

"Well, that's it then. Battle stations! I want everyone at their posts." Gloval ordered gruffly to his bridge crew.

"Everyone sir?" Claudia asked. She was surprised that Gloval wanted all units on combat alert.

"Everyone Claudia. And,-" Gloval was cut short when Cortana called out.

"Sir, I have another group of ships emerging out of slipspace! Their power signatures are similar to the Covenant."

"I have the ships sir. I'll put it on the monitor screen." Vanessa added.

"Let's see it!" Gloval asked hurriedly. When the monitor screen came on it showed some of the original ships that had attacked Macross City five hundred years ago.

"Wait, I don't believe it! The Covenant are shifting course to intercept the new ships." Cortana observed.

"Hmm…. Very interesting." Gloval thought out loud. He saw the tactical value of this new situation, and looked over the computer plot of the two fleets. Both were approaching the ring and the capital ships but were exchanging very little weapons fire. The battle pods and Seraphs were doing most of the fighting, though it was getting bloody. "That ring must be important to them," he thought. "Claudia, steer for a landing in one of the oceans on that ring. We are going to detach the _Daedalus_ and the _Prometheus_." Gloval ordered his helm officer.

"You think that's a good idea sir? Shouldn't we charge the slipspace fold system and escape?" Lisa asked.

"Are you familiar with the Guadal Canal campaign during World War Two?" Gloval asked Lisa.

"Yes sir, but…Ah. I see. The enemy seems more interested in landing on that ring than coming after us. So we detach the two carriers on the surface and form an effective resistance." Lisa concluded from the historical reference that Gloval brought up.

"Yes, and while our forces keep the enemy busy on the surface, we can fold to Reach and rally a fleet to engage the Covenant." Cortana added to Lisa's former statement.

"Aye sir. I'm steering for a landing near an atoll." Claudia added.

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"Attention all combat personnel. Please report to your action stations immediately." Lisa's voice called over the loudspeaker system. "Fifth Platoon, secure airlocks on the _Daedalus_. Fourteenth Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at Bulkhead Charlie 14. Prepare for separation on my mark."

Sergeant Johnson climbed out of a Warthog that had driven him and his platoon to the _Daedalus_ and turned to his men. "You heard the lady. Move like you got a purpose!" Marines in their new blue jumpsuits quickly fell into two lines.

"This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!" Lisa sounded over the loudspeakers.

"Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from gettin' their FILTHY claws on Earth. But looks like we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for, they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine or a giant Hula Hoop-we ain't gonna let 'em have it! What we WILL let 'em have is a belly full of lead and a pool of their own blood to drown in! Am I right, Marines?" Sergeant Johnson cried out boastfully to his Platoon. Some yelled back with cusses of their own, but others looked confused.

"Ah… sir?" One of the Macross marines asked hesitantly.

"Yeah son, what is it?" Johnson replied.

"Uh… Can you please refrain from using curse words Sir? It's not professional." The marine stated back to Johnson hesitantly.

"WHAT! Don't they teach you kids to SWEAR in the 21st century?" Johnson demanded of the new marines.

"Sir no Sir!" They marine replied as he snapped into attention.

"Mmmmhmmm." Johnson hummed while taking into account what the marine said. "Ah forget it! Now move it out! Double time!" Johnson added. The platoon moved out running toward the Pelicans waiting for them, some of them working over what Johnson had said.

"All you 21st century greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close...this is gonna be your lucky day." Johnson added as he walked over to the Pelican.

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While the Macross descended toward the ring below, the Master Chief and his newfound friends were at a loss as to what to do.

"Max, Ben, are you okay?" Rick asked as he approached his friends.

"I'm all right Rick." Max replied while trying to lift himself up off the ground. "How 'bout you Ben?"

"I'll be fine once I get an ice pack on my shoulder." Ben replied. He was rubbing his left shoulder, which was already showing the signs of a bruise. "I think this belongs to you." He said as he handed Max his glasses.

"Thanks Ben. Hey, do you know where the Master Chief went?" Max asked, troubled by the Chief's sudden disappearance.

"Don't worry about me Max; I just went to get a few things." A voice cried out from the darkened section of the corridor. Max, after readjusting his glasses, grabbed a flashlight and pointed it in the general direction from which the voice had come from. It was the Master Chief caring pieces of Fhajad's MJOLNIR mk. IV armor on his back.

"What are we going to do about Fhajad's body?" Rick asked the Master Chief.

"We'll put it in the back seat of the Warthog and report what happened Rick." The Master Chief said consolingly to Rick.

"But… that… It was a person! And I killed him!" Rick thought to himself. His distress was clearly visible on his face.

"Poor kid. Rick just bit off more than he could manage." The Chief thought to himself. "Rick, you get shotgun. Ben and Max, put Fhajad's body in the back seat next to Linda." Soon after Fhajad's body was placed in the back seat area of the warthog Chief started it up and sped back to the city.

"Hey Rick. This may not help much, but you did what you had to. If you didn't shot him he would have killed all of us." Max said, trying to soothe his friend's regret and anguish.

"Hey, am I seeing things or did Linda's hair color just change?" Ben suddenly asked Max, who was sitting right next to him.

"Either that or we both need new glasses." Max jokingly replied. Linda's hair color had indeed changed. It was an amber color now but it still had some light blue streaks.

"Ben. Ben," a female voice spoke, as if to gain Ben's attention.

"Hey did she just say something?" Ben asked.

"I didn't hear anything." Max replied.

"Ben! Help me!" the voice cried out in Ben's mind.

"Who are you?" Ben questioned.

"Spartan 058, Linda!" the voice cried again.

"How do I help you?" Ben thought.

"Kiss me!" the voice commanded. Ben slowly rose and approached the body of Linda and cautiously placed his lips onto hers.

"Hey! What are you…." Max tried to object, but when Ben and Linda locked lips Linda burst to life and engaged vigorously in the once innocent kiss. Ben was stunned at the first, but soon enjoyed the moment. The Master Chief by this time finally noticed Ben and Linda were swapping spit when he looked back.

"Oh hell no." the Master Chief stated as he slammed on the brakes. Ben went flying toward the front seat but was stopped by the limp body of Fhajad.

"Ow! Chief, give a guy some warning will you!" Ben said as he picked himself up and regained his seat.

"Yeah Jackass!" Fhajad cried out.

"What! But you're Dead!" Max yelled at Fhajad.

"Was I? Never saw a bright light or anything. All I remember was eating this flower pedal or something and passing out." Fhajad replied, extremely confused.

Rick by now had fainted at the sight of Fhajad's seeming resurrection. The Master Chief was also stunned by the event.

"Hi John, how are things going?" Fhajad asked. He got no response. "Is that a way to treat a friend?"

Finally the Master Chief shook himself out of his state of shock. "Uh… no it isn't. Uhhhhh…." Chief was clearly still confused.

"Hey Linda, I like what you did with your hair. Brings out those new contact lenses you're wearing." Fhajad said to Linda. She didn't know what he was talking about until she looked into her reflection in Max's glasses. He was too stunned to move or even flinch.

"You know what? I like my hair and eyes this way too." Linda replied.

"I must be dreaming this!" Rick thought aloud.

How true Rick's statement would turn out to be in the coming months.

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"Sir, I would like to go aboard the _Prometheus_." Lisa requested of Gloval.

"Oh, and why is that Commander Hayes?" Gloval asked his first officer.

"Well sir, we still need to maintain a working command structure among the units landing on that ring. Besides, I don't trust Major Silva. He and his ODST's are a little too overbearing to be left in command of two carriers and over half of our forces." Lisa told Gloval sincerely.

"Yes Lisa, I understand. You'd better go right now, before we splash down. By the way, what is our ETA Cortana?" Gloval asked.

"ETA three minutes and counting. Also Dr. Lang wishes to inform you that he is disembarking from the _Macross _is transferring aboard the _Prometheus_." Cortana replied.

"Oh, did he give a reason?" the Captain further inquired.

"He told me that he wanted the opportunity to find out more about the ring and its purpose." Cortana stated.

"Very well then. Go ahead Lisa, and be careful." Gloval said with approval. As she walked out all the other bridge members said good bye to her and wished her good luck. _'She's a smart girl. She came it out alive by the time we get back with reinforcements.' _Gloval thought.

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The Warthog carrying the surprised group of young pilots and Spartans were finally able to make their way to the Prometheus with one minute to spare. And a good thing too. Linda and Samuel still need a fresh pair of clothes to put on. Soon after Lisa made it to the _Prometheus_. Once the _Macross_ splashed on the watery surface of the ring the carriers detached with little effort. Skull, Sepia and Wolf squadrons were loaded onto the _Prometheus_, while every combat worthy warthog, tank, and Destroid were crammed onto the _Daedalus_. The carriers landed on the night side of the ring where the space battle between the Covenant and the Zentradi can still be seen raging on. Now those aboard the carriers could only wait until the Macross came back with reinforcements.

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**In the next exciting adventure in Robotech/Halo the human forces left on the ring begin setting up defensive positions on the islands next to them as the Zentradi and Covenant land their own forces on Halo. And a recon mission turns to disaster. Don't miss Bye Bye Macross!**


	7. Episode 7

**Episode 7: Bye Bye Macross**

**After confronting the alien forces known only as the Covenant within the rings of Coral and the Adair Nebula, the Macross folded near a ring like object within the Lagrange point between the gas giant Threshold and its moon Basis. Captain Gloval decided to leave the two misplaced carriers attached to the Macross on the surface of the Ring. His plan; have the carriers hold off the enemy for as long as possible until a relief fleet of UNSC ships can engage the Covenant fleet at Threshold. **

**Currently, Rick and his new friends are trying to find some living space they can call their own on board the _Prometheus._**

…

"Man, you'd think we'd be able to find a room by now," Rick moaned as he walked through the tight corridor carrying his bulging duffle bag. Already his back was sore.

"Yeah, those Spartans already have their rooms picked out. I wonder what they're doing," Max added from behind Rick. He too was carrying his duffel bag and slowly following Rick.

"Linda's changing right now." Ben replied.

"What! You mean you can see her?" Max asked, stunned by Ben's nonchalant manner.

"Only through her eyes right now. It's kind of weird. There are times when I don't see or hear anything; then there's times when I hear only her voice; and other times when I only see what she sees," Ben explained.

"So what do you see right now?" Rick asked. He was interested by Ben's new found connection to the Spartan.

"Well right now…." before he could finish he saw in his mind Linda looking at herself in a mirror. She was examining every part of her body, making sure she noted the effects that the flower pedals had had on her.

"What is it?" Max inquired.

"She's looking at herself in her mirror." Ben stated.

"Darn why can't I have that gift?" Rick thought to himself as he opened another hatch. What he didn't realize was that it was the hatch to Lisa Hayes's quarters.

"Ahhhhh!" A familiar female voice cried out. Rick stepped back and closed the hatch quickly, blushing heavily.

"What happened?" Max asked hurriedly.

"Rick Hunter! You have some real explaining to do!" The female voice cried out. Then the hatch opened slowly and Commander Lisa Hayes walked out. Max and Ben observed that Lisa was dripping wet and had most likely quickly wrapped a towel around her body.

"Ma'am!" The three pilots stated in unison as they snapped into attention.

"Rick, you are going on report for that!" Lisa stated angrily at the young pilot as she slammed the hatch behind her.

"Why me?" Rick asked himself aloud as he took a few steps forward, but slipped on the wet floor and landed on his back.

"Slacker." Max quipped as Rick slipped again as he tried to pick himself up.

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"Commander Breetai, you realize that as we approach the Installation's gravity field the battle pods' flight capabilities will diminish more." Exedor stated.

Breetai merely grunted. He knew that Exedor was right, but he was facing off with an enemy with superior numbers and comparable weapons. Breetai noticed that the purple ships were slowly pushing his small armada down to the surface of Halo.

"Commander! Zareel's ship has lost thruster control! They are falling toward a small desert plateau on Halo!" A radar operator yelled.

"I have had enough! Have all vessels prepare for an emergency landing on Installation 04! Recover the battle pods and have them re-deploy inside the re-entry pods. As we recover the battle-pods launch a full missile bombardment on the enemy vessels." Breetai barked out.

"Confirmed commander. Attention all gunnery crews, set missiles for full bombardment of target area once we recover the battle-pods." Breetai's sub commander ordered to the rest of the fleet. The battle pods, after two hours of vicious fighting with the alien fighters, fell back and returned to their ships.

The fighter pods continued to engage the Seraphs for as long as possible. As soon as all the battle pods entered their ships Breetai quickly ordered, "Full barrage, all missiles!" The Zentradi warships, wary of damaging Installation 04, finally got the orders they had been waiting for. The large green ships eagerly sent a massive missile barrage, that numbered into the thousands, thundering into the Covenant battle lines. At least a third of the Covenant fighter force was annihilated as the Zentradi missiles slammed into the hapless fighters. The missiles that passed by the helpless seraphs slammed into the shields of the lead covenant ships. Some of the smaller CVS frigates lost their shields and were racked by multiple missile impacts. After the missile barrage at least one frigate was destroyed and several ships, including the _CCS Truth and Reconciliation,_ were disabled in the attack.

"It would appear they don't even know how to use their own weapons! Ha ha! All cannons open fire!" Breetai ordered after observing the stunned behavior of the purple ships. The Zentradi ships followed up their counter attack by firing all their laser cannons in the general direction of the Covenant fleet. Most of the shots hit their marks with deadly consequences. Much of the Covenant fighter craft had by now been shot down or vaporized. By now the _Truth and Reconciliation's_ engine drives had been riddled full of holes from the recent laser attack. The ship was plummeting along with Zareel's cruiser.

"Commander Breetai. We are receiving a transmission from the largest enemy ship," The communications officer cried out to Breetai.

"Put it on." Breetai stated. He personally thought it would be a surrender request but he was surprised when he heard this: "Your destruction is the will of the gods. We are their instrument, Zentradi heretics."

"Sir I have power spikes on all enemy ships!" Breetai's radar operator yelled. The Covenant were fed up with the Zentradi attacks and decided to warm up their plasma torpedoes for a proper counter attack. The holographic view screen showed the outside view. The Purple ships fired off a hundred blue balls of energy toward the Zentradi fleet.

"Plasma Torpedoes!" Exedor exclaimed as the torpedoes quickly approached the Armada.

Breetai quickly order as the torpedoes closed in on his fleet. "Evasive action, all ships!" The Zentradi fleet quickly fired off their side thrusters in an attempt to dodge the incoming torpedoes. Unfortunately the incoming torpedoes tracked their targets well and slammed into their respective marks. When the torpedo attack was over the Zentradi lost one scout ship and several destroyers, and all ships had lost their forward shields.

"Arrrgh! All ship continue advancing, but exercise extreme caution." Breetai commanded what was left of his armada.

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"Commander Hayes. I have two large ships falling from the battle above. They're heading for a large desert plateau about 20 clicks north northwest," The radar operator informed Lisa.

"How is the _Daedalus_ progressing?" Lisa asked.

"The last report stated the Major Silva and his marine detachment had set up a marine outpost on the second island. On the first island we have two Monsters set up to provide long range artillery fire," the communications officer told the Commander. Soon after she received the reports a dull boom could be heard out in the distance. The ships had crashed.

"Ma'am. I have Major Silva on the line. He wishes to speak with you."

"Put it on," Lisa ordered. If Major Silva was calling in person it must be have been important.

"Commander Hayes do you copy?" Silva's voice asked over the comm.

"Yes I hear you Major; you have something to report?" Lisa inquired. Major Silva hadn't felt at ease on board the Macross. Lisa had observed that after an early encounter, and he had also seemed anti-social with the RDF personnel.

"I have a proposal," Silva replied simply.

"Oh, what is it?" Lisa asked again.

"We observed from my position that at least two enemy ships have crashed not too far from here. How about we capture one of them and surprise Captain Gloval?" Silva asked with satisfaction in his voice.

"Although this is a tempting offer Major, our primary objective is to hold off the enemy for as long as possible until a relief fleet can enter the system," Lisa said, reminding Silva of their mission.

"You think the UNSC really cares for some antiquated 500 year old carriers with a few thousand crew? We abandoned planets with a few million on the surface! You can just say bye bye Macross and hello death! But incase you want to live, our only chance is to jump ship and board those downed enemy vessels," Major Silva stated, berating Lisa's stubbornness.

"Now you listen hear Major Silva. We will NOT be abandoned by Captain Gloval. Also, since we don't have any means to knock out the recognition signature on those ships, using them would also violate the Cole Protocol, or did you forget that? I'm sorry Major, but your request is denied!" Lisa yelled back as she got up and turned off the receiver personally.

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After another hour, Lisa ordered Skull squadron to report to the briefing room. Rick, Max and Ben took their seats near the back of the room. The light dimmed as Lisa and Roy Fokker entered the room in front of the large view screen.

"Welcome gentlemen. Just over an hour ago, two enemy ships crash landed 20 kilometers north of our present location. Unfortunately the _Prometheus's_ radar is having problems compensating to the new environment. Luckily we have two Cats-Eye recon units aboard ship. What we need now is three Veritechs to escort the unit I'll be in."

"Wait. Did I hear you right? You'll be in the Cats-Eye?" Roy asked, a bit confused.

"Yes. I'm the only one capable of operating the scout vessel properly," Lisa told Roy.

"But you're the commanding officer. It would be irresponsible for you to go out there," Roy pointed out.

"You'll be in command of the forces until I arrive," Lisa stated, her tone making it clear that her decision was final.

"Of course Commander. Skulls 23 through 25 will have your wing," Roy stated.

"Finally, my first mission," Max said to himself.

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Ten minutes passed by as the Cats-Eye and its Veritech fighter escort approached the crash site. The radiation in the area made it difficult to identify anything.

"This is Cats-Eye recon, we have nothing on radar. Keep up your visual scanning." Lisa advised over the comm.

"This is Skull 24. I have something…. Something going on at 2 o'clock low." Max observed. As he took a closer look he noticed a group of battle pods shooting it out with something beyond an elevation. Then suddenly a massive four legged purple crawler zoomed passed them while firing light pink energy shards at the battle pods. The group was quickly cut to pieces as the shards finally exploded within the pods, sending them to the ground in flaming bits.

"Watch it, Scarab spotted!" Max yelled. The scarab, eager for more kills, spotted the flight group and fired its main gun. The beam passed by Max's cockpit and nailed the Cats-Eye's radar disk. The scout ship tumbled toward the surface of the plateau, spewing smoke. The fighters peeled off and approached the Scarab from multiple angles and unleashed a missile barrage. Most of the missiles connected with their mark but did little more but dent the hull plating on the Scarab. One of the Scarab's turrets acquired Ben's slower moving Veritech and let out a stream of pink energy shards. Several connected with the hull and caused a large explosion.

"I'm getting no response from the controls! Going down!" Ben cried out as his Veritech plummeted toward the surface of the plateau.

"Ben!" Rick yelled as he turned about to face Ben's Veritech. But as soon as his fighter turned it too was racked with a similar number of energy shards. "I'm hit! Max, return to the_ Prometheus _and get some help!" Rick ordered.

"I won't leave you!" Max replied as he sent his Veritech into a series of loops in a successful attempt to dodge the incoming shards.

"You have to! Get out of….." Rick's comm. channel went dead as his Veritech slammed into the ground below. Max knew that his Veritech was no match for a Scarab, but he couldn't simply leave his friends. He decided after the third time of narrowly escaping the Scarabs needler attacks that he had no choice. He would return to the_ Prometheus_ and ask the Chief to help him mount a rescue mission.

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**In the next episode the Master Chief and a small group of marines attempt to rescue Skulls 23 and 24 while the Covenant interrogates the prisoners. Don't miss the Truth and Reconciliation, the next exciting episode of Robotech/Halo.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Episode 8: Truth and Reconciliation **

**After repulsing an attack by the Covenant in the Adair nebula, the _SDF-1 Macross_ executed a random slipspace fold that took the huge battle fortress to the Threshold system. After exiting slipspace however, the Covenant fleet was waiting for the _Macross_ near an ancient ring world of unknown origin. Then, just as the Covenant were going to engage the Macross, a Zentradi fleet appeared near Halo and was engaged by the Covenant. Captain Gloval, sizing up this new and strange situation, decided to leave the carriers _Daedalus_ and _Prometheus_ on the surface of Halo and attempt to return to Reach to gather reinforcements. However the RDF's first mission on the ring world quickly turned to disaster when Commander Lisa Hayes, Rick hunter and Ben Dixon were shot down near the crashed Covenant cruiser _Truth and Reconciliation._**

**Max now speeds toward the Prometheus in order to mount a rescue for his stranded friends.**

"Stupid me! How could I have let that overgrown bug shoot down my friends?" Max exclaimed to himself. He was so grief stricken that he failed to realize the fifteen small blips on his radar that were slowly following his fighter.

"Skull 24, you have fifteen bogeys following you at 6 o'clock low! Take evasive action!" Roy yelled into Skull 24's comm. channel.

Max snapped back into reality just as the lead Banshees fired off their plasma cannons at Max's Veritech. Max took his fighter into a series of barrow rolls and tight turns, trying to evade the shots as best as possible. He was narrowly able to dodge the fire passing by his cockpit canopy.

"Let's see what this fighter's got," Max said to himself as he climbed and banked right, trying to get behind the Banshee fighter screen. "Here we go. Gotcha!" Max yelled as he fired off a spread of micro missiles at the flight of Banshees. Three of the fighters burst into flames and plummeted toward the ocean below.

"This is Wolf Ten to Skull 24. We have your back over," Jack stated over the radio. By now the flight of Banshees had split up in an attempt to overwhelm Max, but two more Veritechs now entered into the fray.

"Yeah! Got two! Am I good or am I good?" Wolf Eleven exclaimed as her missiles detonated on the Banshees in front of her.

"Watch it, you got two on your back Izzy!" Jack screamed into the comms. Izzy didn't believe it until blue plasma shots flew by her cockpit canopy. She barrow rolled to the left but it was too late. One of the plasma rounds punctured a hydraulic fluid line. Izzy continued to roll until she switched the fighter to batteloid configuration. Wolf Ten watch in horror as Izzy plunged toward the nearby shoreline. It was obvious that she couldn't control the batteloid completely during the descent.

"Wolf Ten, watch out!" Max yelled through the radio. The same two fighters that shot down Izzy were now lining up Jack Archer's fighter in their sights. Just as they were about to renew their attack on the lone fighter, the Banshees were racked with multiple gun pod rounds and exploded in midair. Max was now an official ace.

"Skull 24 and Wolf 10, the enemy fighters are falling back. Return to the _Prometheus_. We'll have two pelicans pick up Izzy's batteloid," Roy informed the two pilots over the comm. "Max what happened to the rest of your flight?"

"They were shot down near the crash site. A scarab got them. We need to mount a rescue sir," Max replied.

"Understood. I think I know just who to ask."

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Several hours had passed since Rick crashed landed on the desert plateau. When he woke up he realized that he wasn't in his fighter anymore. Instead he woke up in a purple cell with a pulsating blue energy wall that was transparent. He looked around and saw the injured body of Lisa Hayes lying limp on the floor.

"Darn! I had to get captured with HER!" Rick thought to himself. He got up and walked over to the energy wall. He looked around from his vantage point and noticed that he was in the last cell block in this brig. He also noticed that there were no guards around. Then he heard some moaning coming from Commander Hayes.

"Ah, what happened?" Lisa asked as she woke from her unconscious state.

"We were captured Commander. Just stay still while I examine your injuries." Rick replied, approaching her.

"No I'm quiet all right. OW!" She screamed as she tried to lift herself up. She quickly sat back down against the wall.

"What was that again?" Rick asked sarcastically as he sat next to her.

"Very well then Ensign Hunter. Examine my injuries." Lisa stated.

"Ok, where does it hurt?" Rick asked as he turned to face her.

"My arm that I tried to lift myself with. I think the joint is dislocated," Lisa replied, groaning.

"So, I guess we're going to need to pop it back **in** place then. Here, bite on this," Rick said, handing Lisa a scarf. She placed the scarf in her mouth as Rick lift her arm. Then suddenly Lisa felt a sharp pain screamed to the top of her lungs as the arm was put back into place. "Sorry about that Commander, but it needed to be done," Rick said to her consolingly.

He was about to back away from Lisa when she asked, "That's all right Hunter. Do you have anything I can use as a sling for my arm?"

"Ah… no I don't, but maybe we can use your tunic as a makeshift sling," Rick supposed.

"All right. Help me take it off," Lisa stated back as she unbuttoned her tunic with her good arm.

"Yes ma'am, of course," Rick hesitantly replied as he walked up to Lisa again, blushing a bit this time.

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"So, what do you think of these RDF troops?" Fhajad asked the Chief as he took apart an AR-21 he'd found in a weapons locker.

"I don't know what to think. They didn't react to me like most UNSC troops would. They treated me like a friend," the Chief replied as watched Samuel take apart the 500 year old gun. The Chief noticed that the rifle had 5.56mm ammo and could carry 50 to 100 rounds per clip.

"Hey, it's selective fire as well," Fhajad stated with surprise. "I wouldn't mind taking this old rifle through its runs with the covenant."

"Linda, you haven't said anything at all yet. What happened?" The Chief asked. Linda was simply staring out through a small portal.

"I think Ben is in trouble John. He's somewhere over there," Linda replied as she looked out the window. As soon as she said that there was a knock at the door and Commander Fokker entered the room. The three Spartans turned toward him and saluted.

"At ease," Roy said as he raised his hand and returned the salute. "The reconnaissance flight we sent out was shot down. Only Max was able to return. The covenant most likely captured the pilots. We'll need to rescue them," Roy stated.

"Of course Commander Fokker. Do you have any idea where they were taken?" The Chief asked.

"I do," Linda stated. "I can feel Ben somehow. I could act as the compass."

"How many units are you sending out?" Fhajad asked.

"From what Max has told me, the crash site of the two ships has some fighting going on around it. We'll need to send in a small strike team that would go unnoticed," Roy replied.

"You have any ideas sir?" The Chief inquired.

"As a matter of fact I do," Roy replied with a smirk on his face.

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"So this is what Commander Fokker thinks a surprise attack is composed of," the Chief thought to himself. "Three Veritechs in guardian mode escorting two Sea Sergeants to the plateau. At least the enemy won't expect such old birds to be on this ring world."

"The enemy captured the crew of the Cats-Eye and the pilots of Skull 23 and 25, and are holding them aboard the cruiser that recently crashed," Linda stated.

"Are you sure? We didn't get any Intel when we left Prometheus." Sergeant Johnson asked.

"I'm sure of it. Pilot, have you spotted the cruiser?" Linda asked.

"Yes, I have Ma'am. It's on the other side of the plateau about 300 meters above the surface," the pilot replied.

"So how do we get inside the ship if it's in the air? The Corps issued me a rifle, not wings," Besenti asked in his usual sarcastic manner.

"There's a gravity lift that ferries troops and supplies between the ship and the surface. That's our ticket in Besenti. Now get tactical Marines!" Johnson ordered his men. The marines and the Spartans checked the weapons they had on hand. Fhajad was sporting the AR-21 he'd found.

"Once we get inside the ship, we should be able to locate the brig and free the pilots," the Chief stated. The Sea Sergeant they were in was making a slow descent toward the plateau below with the Veritech hovering overhead. Finally the Helicopter landed and the side door slide open.

"Hit it Marines, go go go! The Corps ain't payin' us by the hour!" Johnson yelled as the rescue team jumped out of the Sea Sergeant. The second one landed nearby and Sergeant Stacker's team began securing the area.

"Stick to the higher ground Linda. Recon the Covenant position ahead of us without being spotted," the Chief ordered his fastest runner. Linda quickly ran up a ledge near the right side of the canyon wall. "Nothing on the motion tracker… It's all clear for now, just watch your step." Linda advised. The three teams of marines and Spartans skulked through the pass and saw the most horrid sight most of them had ever seen. A good sized platoon of grunts, elites and jackals lay dead on the ground next to two massive dead Zentradi. There were also two dead Hunters in the area, one still in the clenched fist of a Zentradi.

"Damn! Sarge, we don't have the firepower to take on those giants," one Macross marine stated as Johnson and Stacker walked back to the helicopters.

"Hey, you think the fuel Rod guns on the Hunters killed those giants?" Samuel asked.

"Maybe. Just maybe," the Master Chief supposed out loud.

"I think we should return to base, or at least hold here until a Pelican can drop off a Scorpion," Jenkins said.

"Hey where are Sergeant Stacker and Johnson?" Mendoza asked.

"Right here son." Sergeant Johnson replied while carrying two Jackhammer rocket launchers slung on his back. "When I joined the Corps, we didn't have any fancy-shmancy bazookas, we had sticks...two sticks and a rock for a whole platoon. And we had to share the rock! Buck up, boy! You're one very lucky Marine!" he said as he threw one of the Jackhammers at Mendoza. "Now marines listen up! No fifty foot giants or five foot piglets with pansy ass pea shooters that shoot green shit are going to get between us and the captives aboard that cruiser. Am I right Marines?" Johnson asked boastfully of his men.

"Ah… sir?" One of the Macross marines tried to ask hesitantly.

"Yes son… Uh, I know, unprofessional," Johnson stated with a sigh. "What's your name anyway?" Johnson asked.

"Corporal William A. Ogle sir!" The marine stated as he snapped to attention.

"Well Ogle, I hope you can handle ol' spanky here," Johnson said as he threw the other rocket launcher in front of the marine.

"Sir!" Ogle yelled as he slung his AR-21 on his back and grabbed the rocket tube.

"Alright, let's head 'em out men," Johnson ordered as he loaded a clip into his assault rifle. As the rescue team ghosted across the plateau, passing through narrow passes and into wide fields enclosed by canyon walls, they spotted more dead covenant bodies and Zentradi corpses. They finally made it to the gravity lift entrance and encountered no resistance. "All right, step lively marines. So far we've have had an easy time, but once we are in that ship we can expect some heavy resistance, so Ogle and Mendoza, leave your 'Spankers' at the door," Johnson ordered. Ogle and Mendoza dropped their rocket launchers and stepped into the grav lift system with the rest of the rescue party.

"Whoa!" Besenti exclaimed as he began to float into the air.

"Yeeehaw!" Another marine cried out in joy as the rest of the team entered the lift. Soon the hull of the cruiser passed under them.

"We're in. I've got a good fix on where Ben is. No Covenant defenses detected on the motion tracker." Linda stated.

"What, there's no Covenant here? I think maybe nobody's home," Mendoza stated out loud. Then suddenly Covenant squads of grunts spill out of a door and opened fire, sending the team diving for cover.

"'No Covenant huh? Ya had to open your mouth!" Besenti cried out as he fired off five rounds into a grunt, pulping its face.

"Contact! Lot's of contact!" Jenkins yelled out as a group of grunts and elites emerged from another doorway.

"Eat grenade!" A grunt yelled as he threw a live plasma grenade toward a group of marines.

"Ah, get it off!" Ogle cried once the grenade attached to his pant leg. The grenade went off a second later, sending the mauled body of the marine toward another group of grunts, pinning one to the ground.

"This ones for you Billy!" Another marine screamed as he held the trigger down on his Assault rifle filling the grunt that threw the grenade full of lead. After several minutes of furious fighting, the Covenant attackers were all dead.

"Area secure, sir. We'd better keep moving," Lance Corporal DeLuna stated after quickly checking the corridors that the Covenant troops had come through.

"Where do we go now?" Mendoza asked.

"How about that door?" Fhajad said sarcastically. The team walked down a large access tunnel of some kind until they came upon a massive blast door.

"The door's locked Sir. I can't bypass it. We can't get through here," DeLuna stated.

"We can use the side passages to find a way around," Linda told the Master Chief.

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"Look at me. The first chance I get at command and I fail miserable on my first mission," Lisa said to herself.

"It's not a complete failure. Max is out their right now gathering a rescue team," Rick informed his superior.

"Even if we escape right now, what would prevent the Covenant from glassing over Earth? I thought I was a soldier, who would struggle for survival even if I were the last one left. But this is the sorry state I'm in now," Lisa said, motioning toward her injured arm.

"Don't say that. We are going to get out of here," Rick said back.

"I'm sorry...I was arro-" Lisa stopped speaking when the shields holding them within the cell shut down and the armored head of a Spartan leaned in.

"Commander Hayes, Ensign Hunter. Good, you're both still alive. Come on, we have to hurry," the Chief stated as he walked into the cell, holding out his hand to Lisa. Lisa grabbed it with her good arm and was quickly yanked to her feet.

"Coming here was reckless Chief, you should know better." Lisa stated.

"What no thank you?" Johnson asked as he entered the cell.

"Hey Rick! How are you doing?" Ben asked.

"Not bad." Rick replied.

"Listen Commander Hayes, while the Covenant had me locked up in here, I overheard the guards talking about this ring world. They call it... Halo," Ben informed the group.

"Are you sure Ben?" Lisa asked, interested by this new information.

"Well, I actually heard a bunch of sounds I couldn't make sense of, but Linda was listening to what I was hearing and was able to translate it.

"Really. Huh... Who would have thought?" Lisa said to herself

"Commander Hayes, while I listening the Covenant kept saying… Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe," Linda stated.

"This 'Halo' must be a weapon of some type then. If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant or even those giants gain control of it, they'll use it and wipe out the entire human race," Lisa stated with renewed vigor. "Master Chief, I have a new mission for you. Find Halo's control center and secure it. Alright marines, Let's move!" Lisa bellowed out as she picked up a plasma pistol from a fallen elite.

The rescue team hurried unchallenged toward the Covenant ship's landing bay. When Ben and Rick looked down they saw their Veritechs below and Max's in it's guardian configuration. The micro arms extended from the Veritech and were repairing Rick's fighter. "Max has already repaired your fighter Ben. Commander, we have a Sea Sergeant waiting for you on the port side Launch bay. If you'll follow Sergeant Johnson," the Chief informed the former captives.

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"My lord, we have intercepted a transmission from the alien battle net. Apparently a group of Micronians that call themselves Humans have successfully boarded one of their cruisers," Exedor informed his commander.

"Hmmm…. Micronians eh? They would be able to access the more sensitive regions of Installation 04. Humble!" Breetai supposed to himself out loud.

"Yes mi' lord, but the aliens that call themselves the Covenant are planning on a large scale offensive against the probable location of these Micronians," Exedor further explained.

"Interesting."

"What is your plan Breetai?" Exedor asked.

"We will let this Covenant attempt their little plan and we will aid these Micronians when the time is right and make a temporary alliance of sorts," Breetai concluded. Soon everything would fall into place, and his victory would be assured.

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**Next on Robotech/Halo: the Covenant launches a major aerial offensive against the RDF forces over the ocean. Then support comes from an unexpected source. Don't miss Confrontation, the next exciting chapter in the Robotech/Halo saga. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Episode 9: Confrontation**

**Two days have passed since the _Macross_ left the two carriers_ Daedalus_ and _Prometheus_ behind on Halo. During Lisa's first true command, her recon mission ends in disaster. Luckily Maximilian Sterling and the Master Chief were able to salvage the mission and rescue the captured RDF personnel. Now the Covenant leaders discuss further plans for Halo and Humanity.**

Fleet Master Nola 'Thanosee approached the activated Holo-pedestal. The Holo-pedestal displayed the silhouettes of the three high prophets and the form of a Brute. Nola paid no mind to the Brute present in the hologram, and instead prostrated himself on the Holo pad so the Prophets could see him on their end. "My Prophets, I bring the most urgent news to you. We have discovered one of the Halo ring worlds my lords, the fleet master reported.

"One of the Halos! Our search has ended my brothers!" Regret stated with much joy in his voice.

"Yes, but what of the Human Battle Fortress? The… SDF-1? What happened Fleet Master?" Truth asked intently.

"The ship lead us to the Holy artifact my Lord, but there is grave news to report." Nola stated with distain.

"Oh, and what is it?" Mercy asked, interested in these new events.

"The Zentradi and the Humans are present on the Halo. We have…."

"Zentradi! They dare to defile that most holy place! They, and the Human infestation, must be eliminated at once!" Regret spouted, cutting Nola's report short.

"Yes, this must be done. So Fleet Master, you must have captured the Battle Fortress," Truth supposed.

"No Master. The Zentradi fleet stood in our way," Nola explained.

"Unacceptable Fleet Master! Even though you found a Halo, our enemies have gathered there and will continue to gather there now that the Human Battle Fortress is away. Our two enemies must have some sort of alliance. We must finish their destruction if we are to conclude the Great Journey with as little resistance as need be," Mercy stated.

"Of course my Prophets, but my forces are stretched thin throughout the Ring. And if what you say is true, then we can expect more of the Heretic knaves to engage us here. Perhaps a secondary attack force should concentrate on the remaining Human strongholds while my forces attempt to unlock Halo's secrets," Nola proposed to the Prophet hierarchy.

"Yes, your plan is acceptable. Bracktanus!" Truth cried out. The Brute in the Holo-pedestal had remained quiet throughout this report, but when his name was called he grunted in acknowledgement.

"Bracktanus, take the fleet of Pious Might and strike into human territory. Find the humans' home base and destroy it. Nola, you must destroy the Zentradi fleet on Halo. Only then we will be able to complete the Great Journey and join the Forerunners," Truth concluded. "Are we in agreement?" He asked. The fellow prophets nodded to each other. Then the Holo-pedestal discontinued transmission and the Golden Elite rose and walked off to his control room.

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Meanwhile, the two Sea Sergeants, escorted by the five Veritech fighters, landed on the carrier _Prometheus_. The bay door carrying of the craft carrying Lisa Hayes opened up to reveal Commander Fokker waiting there with several medics.

"Commander Hayes, I'm glad you made it back. Major Silva was threatening to assume command of the expedition," Roy informed his superior as she was placed on a stretcher.

"I should have expected that. Inform Major Silva that I'm back onboard. Also, have Ensigns Hunter and Dixon report to the infirmary once they land," Lisa ordered as she was carried below deck in a narrow stairway. The sound of two Veritechs landing on the top deck resounded as they entered a cramped passageway.

"Of course commander. Is there anything else?" Roy asked.

"Yes, maintain constant patrols of the surrounding area. Also have all section leaders report to the _Prometheus_ in a couple of hours. We need to discuss what we are going to exactly do while we're on this ring." Roy nodded.

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As the rescue team relaxed from the recent mission, Sergeant Johnson and his platoon make it to their cabin and reminisced about the recent battle.

"That was the weirdest mission I've ever been on. We board a covenant ship and meet only minor resistance," Besenti commented as he placed his assault rifle in his locker.

"Minor resistance? Tell that to Ogle. The man gets wasted on his first mission by a plasma grenade. That right there sucks man," Mendoza replied as he closed his locker.

"Yep, he was a good kid. I think I'll go pay a visit to his wife. Ha ha!" Johnson stated sarcastically. Most of his platoon was stunned by Johnson's blatant disregard for the dead comrade. Many of them muttered to themselves about Johnson's inconsiderate attitude, but Lance Corporal DeLuna was too fixated in his own thoughts. His mind rushed with the memory of Corporal Ogle and how they had both grown up together and joined the military shortly before the crash of the SDF-1 on Macross Island. Now that his friend was dead, he wondered to himself whether or not he would be next in the coming months, or if he'd see Macross city one last time.

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"Well, your fine Lieutenant Commander Hayes. Your shoulder seems to be healing fine, but you seem to be a little malnourished. I suggest that you keep your sling on for at least a couple weeks, and eat something," Medic Mendez commented as he looked over Lisa's Medical chart.

"Thank you. How are Ensign Hunter and Ensign Dixon?" Lisa asked.

"Rick? He's all right. He suffered no real injuries, just some bumps and bruises. As for Ben, he has a slight concussion but he should be fine in a couple of days," Mendez stated as he placed Lisa's chart in to the slot at the foot of her bed. "Oh one thing; would you like to see them?"

"No thank you. I should get up to the bridge and find out what's going on," Lisa commented as she got up from her bed and readjusted her sling.

"Of course ma'am. Perhaps you should change your clothes and freshen up before you go," Mendez suggested.

"Thank you Medic, you may carry on." Lisa stated as she walked out of the infirmary.

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"Hi Rick! How is it going you little devil?" Roy asked as he entered the room where Rick and Ben were recuperating.

"Oh, hi big brother, do you when we'll be able to get out of here. We're both perfectly fine," Rick commented.

"Yeah skipper, I only have a bump on my head." Ben added as a nurse entered the room.

"Uh, nurse, do you have any idea when we will be able to leave?" Rick asked.

"Oh, not long Ensign. We're just running some more tests to find out if pilot's skulls are made of granite or not," the nurse stated sarcastically as she put down Rick's med chart.

"Well, my head is definitely made of it," Ben quipped in return as he pointed to the bandages wrapped around his head. The grouped laughed among themselves for a few seconds.

"Nice one Ensign Dixon. You guys are free to go. Just don't get yourself into any more crashes," the nurse said as she walked out of the recovery room. As the two pilots started to get up, Second Lieutenant Jack Archer entered the room and asked Roy whether or not Izzy was in this room. Roy nodded and pointed to the closed curtain at the end of the room.

"Uh, Izzy, is that you?" Jack asked as he tried to move the curtain just enough for him to enter.

"JACK! Wait! I need to… fix myself up!" Izzy exclaimed hurriedly.

"Oh sorry, I was just seeing if you were ok," Jack said as he closed the curtain in front of him. There was a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks now.

"Okay, you can come in Jack," Izzy said, looking into a mirror while hurriedly fixing her short brunette hair. Then she readjusted her robe and sat up on the bed's backboard as Jack entered.

"Well, come on slackers. You can't stay in bed forever," Roy said as he patted Rick on the back and lead both of the pilots out of the room. "Go get him Izzy," Roy thought as he closed the door behind him.

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Several hours had passed since the rescue team arrived back on the _Prometheus_. The Section leaders of the Robotech Defense Forces left on Halo were about to meet each other when a radar operator called Lisa Hayes to the bridge of the _Prometheus_.

"Commander Hayes, I'm glad you're here. We have a situation developing!" The radar operator reported as Lisa entered the CIC room.

"What is it!" Lisa asked quickly as she sat down on the center chair.

"We have contacts, and lots of them, approaching on two vectors! The island farthest away from us is about to be attacked from the air, Commander."

"Scramble orders to all Veritechs! Have the _Daedalus_ and _Prometheus_ submerge once the fighters are away!" Lisa ordered quickly.

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"Repeat, enemy attack! All Veritechs launch immediately!" Lisa ordered over the PA system of the _Prometheus_.

"You heard her, this is the real thing! Now let's go!" Roy yelled in excitement as he boarded Skull One.

"I'm with you big brother!" Rick called out as his Veritech and Ben's were lifted onto the flight deck.

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"Very interesting," Dr. Lang said to himself as he looked at the readout on a small computer panel. Dr. Lang and his security team had traveled to the fourth island and were surveying it when they discovered an underground passage that had lead deep into the island's core a few hours ago. He touched the panel and the Hologram in front of it came to life and showed a holographic presentation of the ring world.

"Most interesting," Dr. Emil Lang said to himself.

"Odd how I knew what button to push on the touch screen," Emil supposed.

"Dr. La.. this .. Sec… Lieut…nt McCasky! Keep yo… inside …. island! We are….." The jumbled radio transmission died with a large explosion. Even the chamber that Dr. Lang and his security detachment were shook violently.

"Got to be one of ze Deztroidz exploding," Lang observed from the recent quake.

"I take it that you heard that transmission," Sergeant Lister said as he entered the. "Hmmm… is that some sort of map?"

"Yes Mazter Zergeant. I think I just found ze control room for thiz Halo. Zere it iz, zector 77," Dr. Lang informed the sergeant.

"That's good. But how are we going to get out of here?" Lister asked.

"We wait. We simply wait," Dr. Lang stated as he looked at the Hologram again.

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"I need some help over here!" Ben yelled into the radio system as he tried to evade four Banshees that had singled out his slower moving Veritech. Then, as he tried to barrel roll out of the sights of the four fighters, a blue Veritech switched to its batteloid form while in mid flight and fired off its gun pod into the group of fighters that were chasing Ben. Three of the fighters explode as the bullets connected with their marks, while the fourth narrowly dodged the spray of bullets.

"Wow! Ah, I've been hit!" Ben screamed as the surviving banshee scored a few hits, one plasma round puncturing something important because Ben realized shortly after the hits because his steering became sluggish.

"Ben, climb and bank!" Rick ordered as he turned his fighter around to find Ben. Ben's Veritech, while spewing smoke, spun around with the banshee still in hot pursuit. "There!" Rick exclaimed as he fired his nose lasers, incinerating the Banshee.

"Skull squadron! Reform and cover Sepia squadron's retreat. Wolf try to…. What! Wolf squadron, you have several new contacts closing on your position!" Lisa stated unnervingly as she received more information from her crew.

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"Miriya. You are the best fighter pilot the Zentradi posses. You are to destroy all Covenant fighter craft in the area. In no way should you engage micronians the Covenant call Humans. Shot down all purple fighter craft," Breetai ordered.

"Ha! The best Zentradi pilot defending some micronians? Very well then Breetai," Miriya said out loud. "There are times when I wonder why Dolza had me join Breetai's force instead of Azonia's," she thought as she locked onto a second wave of Banshees. "All Zentradi fighters, lock your targets and engage!" Miriya ordered as she fired off a full missile salvo into the hapless Covenant battle group.

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"The Aliens are attacking the Covenant fighter groups Lt., but they're totally avoiding our forces," the radar operator observed.

"Pull back all fighters. Do not engage the aliens in green!" Lisa ordered over the radio system.

"Ma'am we are getting a strange transmission from the other side of Halo."

"Put it on!" Lisa ordered as she rose from her chair and walked over to the operator's console.

The transmission came over the loudspeaker, slightly distorted but clear enough to understand. "To micro…. Uh, Humans. My name is Breetia. We both have a common enemy. The Covenant. We wish an end of hostilities between our peoples and to form an alliance. We would like to receive an emissary from your people and negotiate further."

"Interesting." Lisa said to herself.

"Ma'am, the Covenant are vectoring toward another group of fighters and one large object closing fast!"

"One large ob… a CVS frigate!" Lisa exclaimed. "So, the Covenant means business. Well, let's show them something they'll never forget. Where's the frigate now?" She asked hastily.

"The frigate just broke through our defense line. They're playing laser tag with our fighters and the Zentradi. They also seem to be launching some troop ships of their own," the radar operator replied.

"Raise theship and warm up our onboard weapon systems," Lisa ordered. As the _Prometheus_ rose above the surface of the water its twelve Bofors RLT-2 twin barreled laser turrets and twelve Warhawk MLB-10 missile launchersextended from their protective sleeves and acquired the lumbering Covenant Frigate.

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"This is Commander Hayes to all Veritech squadrons. Clear the Covenant frigate's general position!" Lisa's resounding voice called into the comm. system.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Max said as shifted his Veritech into fighter mode, chasing another group of banshees. "Man, that alien pilot sure can fight," Max thought, watching one of the Zentradi fighters bring down another Banshee.

"Yes, that Micronian is an excellent pilot. It is a shame we can't fight each other," Miriya thought to herself as she witness the blue batteloid shoot down two more banshees.

"Hey, is that the _Prometheus?_ What's it doing?" Ben asked as he saw the _Prometheus_ rise up out of the sea. Then twenty four laser shots set to anti-ship mode streamed from the _Prometheus's_ weapons banks and hit the energy shields of the Covenant frigate head on.

On a nearby island, the booming noise of what sounded like battleship guns firing could be heard as tactical reflex shells finally downed the weakened shields of the frigate. The two monster Destroids on the first island continued their shelling as the_ Prometheus_ let out a hail of laser and missile fire that ripped large gashes into the hull of the frigate. Finally one of the monster shells ripped right through the gravity control system of the frigate and the Covenant vessel plummeted toward the ocean below. As the frigate sank deeper into the water, the long docile _Daedalus_ closed in for the kill. It's eight Mk82 760mm tubes fired off a full spread of torpedoes that finished off the frigate once and for all.

"Well men, we did it. Let's head for home," Roy commented upon seeing the explosion of the Covenant ship, a massive water spout a click away from the_ Prometheus_.

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"Ma'am, enemy ship destroyed, but we lost contact with the marine outpost on the fourth island. Dr. Lang was reported to be on the island during the attack. Several Covenant drop ships were spotted near the area," the radar operator reported.

"Have the Master Chief and a rescue squad move out at once," Lisa replied as she looked out the window. "So much devastation," She thought.

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**In the next episode, the Master Chief and a rescue team attempt to find Dr. Lang on the fourth island while Lieutenant Commander Lisa Hayes tries to open communications with the Zentradi. Don't miss Silent Cartographer, the next amazing adventure in Robotech/Halo. **


End file.
